DOJ Can Secretly Pay Trump His $230 Million Demand
October 22, 2025

Greg Sargent
‪@gregsargent.bsky.social‬

Trump is transforming the presidency into what might be called a Bribe Delivery System. He's creating new avenues for law firms, universities, media companies, and more to pay him off. To MAGA, this is a positive.

(discussing a @lioneltrolling.bsky.social piece)

https://newrepublic.com/article/202132/trump-doj-230-million-shakedown-worse

October 22, 2025 at 2:47 PM

SELF-DEALING

Trump’s Vile New $230 Million Shakedown of DOJ Just Got Even Worse

It’s bad enough that Trump wants—and DOJ will likely fork over—this tribute payment. Now, get this: It can probably be done at first without even being revealed publicly.

Greg Sargent
October 22, 2025

Donald Trump is rapidly transforming the presidency into a massive Bribe Delivery System. For convenience’s sake, let’s refer to this going forward as Trump’s presidential “BDS.” … This is underscored by the jarring news that Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him $230 million in compensation related to various federal actions against him. As The New York Times reports, Trump submitted claims in 2023 and 2024 seeking “damages” stemming from the investigation into Russian interference in 2016 and his prosecution for stealing classified documents at the end of his first term.

Now that Trump is president again, he is still demanding those payments, sources told the Times. And one of the officials who would decide the matter is Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche—one of Trump’s former personal attorneys.

Ethics experts point out that Trump now appears in a position to command his subordinates to hand him $230 million in taxpayer money. As the Times delicately put it, Trump expects this to happen.

But it gets even worse. … In an interview, Representative Jamie Raskin—who is investigating this as ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee—said his staff’s research indicates that these payments can probably be made confidentially at first, with no immediate public disclosure.

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