Democrats Launch Investigation Into Trump’s ‘Theft’ Of $230 Million In Taxpayer Money

Two top House Democrats sent a letter to President Donald Trump warning him that his effort to order the Department of Justice to pay him $230 million in taxpayer funds as compensation for its investigations into him during the Biden administration is both unconstitutional and illegal.

The letter from Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, notes that the Constitution’s Domestic Emoluments Clause prohibits the president from receiving any additional payment above his salary from the federal government and that the Federal Tort Claims Act further prohibits the payment of damages that Trump seeks.

“In remarks to the press this week, you described a blatantly illegal and unconstitutional effort to steal $230 million from the American people,” the letter states. “Your plan to have your obedient underlings at the Department of Justice (DOJ) instruct the U.S. Treasury to pay you, personally, hundreds of millions of dollars — especially at a time when most Americans are struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, and afford health care — is an outrageous and shocking attempt to shake down the American people.”

President Donald Trump wants his former personal attorney Todd Blanche, now deputy attorney general, to approve handing him $230 million in taxpayer funds as damages for past DOJ investigations.

Jim Lo Scalzo/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Trump has filed administrative complaints with the Department of Justice alleging that his rights were violated by DOJ investigations into his illegal retention of classified documents and the role Russia played in the 2016 election. The $230 million in damages he is seeking would need to first be approved by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Civil Division head Stanley Woodward Jr. before likely needing Trump’s ultimate approval. Blanche previously served as Trump’s personal attorney during these investigations, while Woodward served as counsel for Trump aide Walt Nauta in the classified documents case. The conflict of interest is so obvious that even Trump has commented on it.

“I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president, I said, ‘I’m sort of suing myself,’” Trump said in the Oval Office on Oct. 15. “I don’t know, how do you settle the lawsuit? I’ll say, ‘Give me X dollars, right?’ And I don’t know what to do with the lawsuit. It’s a great lawsuit. And now I won, it sort of looks bad, I’m suing myself, right?”

Raskin and Garcia agree that it looks bad.

“If either of your claims had any merit, you could have taken them to court by now and litigated them publicly. You did not do that,” their letter states. “Instead, you waited until you became President and installed your handpicked loyalists at DOJ, knowing that you could instruct them to co-sign your demand notes in secret behind closed doors, and then you could present the notes to the U.S. Treasury for cold hard cash courtesy of the American taxpayer. That isn’t justice, it is theft.”

The letter goes on to demand the White House hand over a litany of information about Trump’s “ongoing conspiracy” to raid the U.S. Treasury for his own benefit. This includes all relevant correspondence with DOJ officials, including Blanche, all DOJ memoranda or other legal opinions related to the case and all materials identifying who at DOJ is involved in overseeing Trump’s pursuit of damages.

While Democrats are currently in the minority in the House, the letter from Raskin and Garcia indicates their intent to investigate this matter both now and to use the congressional subpoena power if Democrats win control in the 2026 elections.