A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
President Trump’s corrupt $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is the gift that keeps on giving … to Trump.
New details continue to dribble out about the so-called settlement agreement resolving Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.
Foremost among them: A thin, shoddily drafted single-page document dated May 19 and signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that purports to release any claims that the IRS might have against Trump, his family and his businesses:
The date of the release, quietly posted on the DOJ website early yesterday, is important. Reporting over the past few days had suggested that the settlement agreement would include some sort of release of Trump, or at least abandonment of the IRS audits of Trump, where he faced a potential penalty of as much as $100 million. But no such language appeared in the settlement agreement that was dated May 18 and released the same day. It’s not clear if the apparent side agreement the next day was planned all along, was a rushed make-do in reaction to Trump ire over the terms of the settlement agreement, or was the result of some other chicanery. The odd circumstances also raise questions about the enforceability of the side agreement, since Trump’s lawsuit was dismissed the day before the side agreement was reached.
Notably, the release is so broad and poorly worded that it left some legal commentators wondering if it covered not just any tax cases against Trump, which is bad enough, but any other criminal conduct. It uses the ill-defined and loaded terms “Lawfare and/or Weaponization” in a way that seems sweeping and unlimited. The better reading of the side agreement is that by its own terms it covers only claims by the IRS and Treasury Department, who were defendants in the Trump lawsuit, which would seem to limit it to tax-related matters. Still, the Blanche-signed document is vague, loose, and imprecise in ways that invite over-broad interpretations and future legal wrangling over what it means, which may not have been by accident.
The president’s former personal attorney granting him sweeping release from government claims against him is a stunning conflict of interest unheard of in past administrations. It comes less than a week after a CNN report that as soon as Blanche arrived at the Justice Department last year, he was told by the DOJ’s top ethics lawyer that he would have to recuse himself from matters involving Trump personally. The DOJ said then that Blanche was complying with his ethical obligations.
Among the other developments:
- The IRS thought it could successfully defend the Trump lawsuit against it. The NYT reports on a previously undisclosed memo to that effect:
I.R.S. officials prepared a 25-page memorandum outlining what they saw as flaws in Mr. Trump’s suit and advising the Justice Department to move to dismiss it, according to two people familiar with the memo. That memo was provided to Treasury officials in April, and it is unclear if they passed it along to its intended recipients at the Justice Department, according to the people, who spoke anonymously to discuss internal government deliberations.
- The “Anti-Weaponization Fund” lacks the rigorous controls that are typically put in place for compensating victims, Bloomberg reports. “They’ve apparently just decided to give money away. That’s what this looks like,” said Arthur Gary, former general counsel of DOJ’s Justice Management Division.
- Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) wants the testimony of Brian Morrissey, the Treasury Department’s top lawyer until he resigned Monday after the settlement agreement was announced.
- Months ago, DOJ official Ed Martin told a GOP ally that big payouts were coming for the Jan. 6 defendants, though he estimated it would only be $40 million, not the $1.776 billion it turned out to be.
Just In: Facebook Meme Case Settles
A Tennessee man wrongfully jailed for 37 days for posting a meme to Facebook in the aftermath of the 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk has settled his case against Perry County, Tennessee and Sheriff Nick Weems for $835,000, his lawyers announced this morning.
Retired law enforcement officer Larry Bushart’s comment on a Facebook post promoting a Kirk vigil in Perry County, Tennessee recycled a Trump meme from a 2024 school shooting in Perry County, Iowa:
Even though the sheriff later admitted he knew it was a preexisting meme about an out-of-state school shooting, he claimed that it was being interpreted as a threat to Perry County High School in Tennessee and sought and obtained a warrant for Bushart’s arrest. Bushart, who lives in a nearby county, was held on a $2 million bond before the case fell apart after widespread media attention.
The settlement, in which the defendants did not admit to fault or liability, is being paid by the county’s insurer. As part of the settlement, Bushart and Weems issued a joint statement today.
“I am pleased my First Amendment rights have been vindicated,” said Bushart, who was represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. “The people’s freedom to participate in civil discourse is crucial to a healthy democracy. I am looking forward to moving on and spending time with my family.”
For his part, Weems sounded unchastened: “As Sheriff, there is no responsibility I take more seriously than protecting the children in our community, who are some of the most vulnerable among us. Ensuring their safety is not just a duty of this office, it is a commitment I carry with me every single day. I am happy to have this matter resolved, and I look forward to continuing to serve and protect the people of Perry County.”
2026 Ephemera
- KY-04: The iconoclastic Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was successfully primaried by Trump-backed Ed Gallrein, further shrinking any nominal GOP resistance to Trump on Capitol Hill.
- GA-Sen: In the GOP primary to determine who will challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (D), Rep. Mike Collins advanced to the June 16 runoff against Derek Dooley, son of Georgia football legend Vince Dooley.
- GA-Gov: In the GOP primary, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — who famously resisted Trump’s effort to overturn the state’s presidential election in 2020 — was squeezed out of the runoff by two election deniers.
- AL-Sen: In the GOP primary, Rep. Barry Moore ran well ahead of Attorney General Steve Marshall, but they’re headed to a June 16 runoff.
- AL-Gov: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) and former Sen. Doug Jones (D) won their respective primaries to set up a rematch of their 2020 Senate race.
- TX-Sen: After dangling for weeks a possible endorsement of Sen. John Cornyn (R), President Trump threw his support at the last minute to Attorney General Ken Paxton in the May 26 GOP primary runoff.
‘A Government of Laws, Not Men’
In protest of the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” an advocacy group for current and former DOJ employees invoked John Adams:
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Frist!
Seems kinda early.
First claim to the slush fund dropped yesterday, for nearly $3 million
Way early. Thanks for that, Dave Kurtz.
A feature, not a bug.
Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely
Maybe so, but the Dotard is rotten to the core; his corruption was laid bare and plain to see by his power.