There are a substantial number of Republican Senators who are taking proper notice of Trump’s stunning explosion of conflicts of interest and dubious Constitutional manipulations last week. (I assume all Democratic Senators are in opposition, since they would oppose anything relating to the President anyway.)Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche met with GOP Senators to discuss the nearly $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” his Department of Justice will supposedly operate as part of a settlement President Trump reached with the IRS, with the cash distributed by commissioners, appointed by Blanche (again supposedly) to selected victims of “unfair treatment by the government.” Most offensive of all, the odoriferous deal shields Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization from further action by the IRS. Reportedly there was general anger and disgust over the arrangement among the Senators. Sen. Mitch McConnell called the fund “morally wrong.” “So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong – Take your pick,” he said. I’d vote for both stupid and ethically wrong, not that McConnell is an authority on right and wrong from any perspective.
I continue to think, or at least hope, that this abomination will be stopped. As I already wrote when asked in a comment, this, unlike the artificial offenses behind the two purely partisan impeachments in Trump’s first term, is a genuine impeachable offense. That’s a non-starter now, though if the Democrats take the House they will be looking for any excuse for indicting Trump, and this will be an irresistible temptation.
It is apparent by the public reaction, however, that not many people who weren’t already Trump Deranged are all that upset about the scam, that many MAGA loyalists are satisfied, even enthusiastic with it, and the vast majority don’t understand what’s going on. It might even win more votes for the GOP than it loses.
In other ethics news:
Ethics Alarms 
You should check out the commentary on Reason.com articles.
The libertarians hate Trump. This won’t change anything.
Andrew McCarthy at NR calls the Trump IRS settlement an abuse of political power but not a legal issue. In other words it is up to Congress to handle it (which it will not do of course).
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/05/the-trump-slush-fund-is-an-abuse-of-political-power-not-a-legal-wrong/
The Federalist has an article with title “Senators Fight Harder Against Restitution For DOJ Weaponization Than Against Weaponization Itself”, and Townhall is silent about it.
There are a substantial number of Republican Senators who are taking proper notice of Trump’s stunning explosion of conflicts of interest and dubious Constitutional manipulations last week.
It does not help that the Republican Senators who speak strongly against the slush fund are the usual RINO suspects like Thom Tillis and Mitch McConnell. Sean Davis (The Federalist) points out that both these Senators voted for a similar slush fund, and their protests lack integrity but smell of hypocrisy. I am including Sean Davis’s tweet on Tillis below, he has a separate tweet on McConnell. The thing is that the protesting Senators themselves have set up a precedent by voting for a similar slush fund for the benefit of Senators who where spied on by Biden.
Trump’s attempt to legal immunization against the IRS is also a defense mechanism against lawfare and abuse by federal agencies. As Trump has been on the receiving end of “show me the man and I will show you the crime” lawfare by Laetitia James, Jack Smith, and the IRS has been abusive against Trump, and against conservatives (Lois Lerner vs Tea Party), it is understandable that Trump seeks a preemptive defense.
I am not saying what Trump does is good, however the root cause and the real issue has been a history of lawfare and federal agency abuse against Trump and against conservatives going back to the Obama administration. And for that reason MAGA conservatives will shrug the Trump’s less than ethical defense measures off as a rather minor issue, and not lose sleep over it. Political expedience trumps ethical purity; that is how it works in politics.
As WordPress only allows me one link before sending a comment to moderation limbo, a separate comment for Trump’s tweet on the slush fund.
About 3 and 4, in 2020 NYT revolted against an editorial by Senator Tom Cotton who urged to bring in the military to stop all the BLM rioting; the editor who allowed the publication of the column was forced to resign.
Today no revolt at the NYT against the Kristof column.
What surprises me is that so many Jews still vote for a party that now is in full support of Jew hatred. Hamas and its supporters do not only attack Israel, they also commit terrorism against Jews in western countries. And there is historical precedent that walking away from your Jewish identity and fully assimilating does not protect against antisemitism.
https://townhall.com/columnists/alanjosephbauer/2026/05/24/ok-so-why-do-jews-keep-voting-for-people-who-hate-them-n2676585
Regarding #2: And the Trump Deranged are out in full force in our local news media’s comment section accusing the President of staging the incident in order to distract and/or justify the need for his ballroom.
6. According to lefties, broadcast companies are supposed to absorb losses related to programming attacking the Trump and his administration. It’s the corporations’ civic duty.
A very worthwhile gloss by Francis Menton that I failed to read timely:
“Sue And Settle”: Two Can Play This Game — Manhattan Contrarian
Final paragraph:
I should mention that I am not a fan of this business, no matter which side is practicing it at the moment. But the only way to get rid of such tactics will be for the likes of the New York Times to criticize their own side, which they will never do. When they give their own side a pass, and then claim that Trump is doing something unique and unheard of, it only makes themselves look ridiculous.
As is our Dear Leader, Menton is not a fan of the New York Times.