Donald Trump has demanded $230 million from the Justice Department as payback for federal investigations he faced while the Democrats were in charge.
The president submitted two administrative complaints seeking damages for a number of actions he claims violated his rights, people familiar with the not-yet-public filings told the New York Times.
Trump didn’t deny that he’s seeking the settlement, but appeared to blank when asked on Tuesday about a potential payout.
‘Well I guess they probably owe me a lot of money for that,’ Trump told reporters when asked if he’s seeking money from his own DOJ.
The President insisted that if he does get paid, he would ‘do something nice with it like give it to charity or give it to the White House,’ and bragged about how he hasn’t taken the presidential salary ever since his first term.
The demand by Trump — without precedent — represents another potential headache for Attorney General Pam Bondi who the president is pressuring to deliver prosecutions against the political enemies who went after him while in office.
Bondi has been at pains to show that her prosecutorial integrity has not been called into question by Trump’s very public demands, which included a private text message to her which he mistakenly posted online: ‘JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!’
When asked about potential conflicts of interest regarding Trump’s monetary demands, a spokesman told the Daily Mail that ‘all officials at the Department of Justice follow the guidance of career ethics officials.’
President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during a Diwali celebration in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday
Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on October 7
Trump was under multiple federal investigations while he was a presidential candidate.
But when he went on to win the election, Trump took over the entities that are now responsible for reviewing the claims made in late 2023 and the summer of 2024.
Sources detailed how the first complaint seeks damages for the FBI and special counsel investigation into Russian election interference and potential connections between the Kremlin and Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The second, they said, claims the FBI violated Trump’s privacy while searching for classified documents during the raid on his residence at Mar-a-Lago and accuses the Justice Department of malicious prosecution.
It also accuses then-attorney general Merrick Garland, then-FBI Director Christopher Wray and then-special counsel Jack Smith of ‘harassment’ intended to sway the outcome of the election.
‘This malicious prosecution led President Trump to spend tens of millions of dollars defending the case and his reputation,’ the second claim said, according to the Times.
The complaints have not been made public, but those familiar with the filings say that Trump is seeking $230 million in compensation from the federal government.
Two people familiar with Trump’s claims tell the Times that he has not yet been paid by the federal government but that he plans to be compensated for the investigations.
The second complaint filed in summer 2024 accuses the FBI of violating Trump’s privacy while searching for classified documents during the raid on his residence at Mar-a-Lago
Administrative claims are not lawsuits, but are complaints submitted to the DOJ to see if a settlement can be reached without going to federal court.
If the Justice Department formally rejects the claim or declines to act, the filing party could then sue.
It’s likely in this instance that Trump will face a fruitful outcome since he is negotiating with people who work for the government he controls. Those who would be tasked with approving the complaint are senior officials who defended him in court or are already in his close circle.
Compensation would come from the DOJ’s coffers, which are covered by taxpayers.
Any settlements exceeding $4 million are required by DOJ procedure to receive approval by deputy attorney general or associated attorney general.
