Washington — Treasury Secretary Scott Besent declined Wednesday to say whether President Donald Trump and his family will receive immunity from IRS audits after the administration ends. Abandoned plans For a $1.776 billion compensation fund that would have benefited the president’s allies.
“There is ongoing litigation, and I am unable to comment on the ongoing litigation,” Besant told lawmakers at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
It was a frustrating answer for Democratic lawmakers looking to get answers from Bescent in a hearing ostensibly focused on the Treasury Department budget, and came a day after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated that the part of the settlement dealing with IRS audit immunity would remain in effect for the Republican president.
After several failed attempts to get Picente to respond, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said: “It’s been very clear that you’re dodging this and trying to use it as an excuse. It’s outrageous on behalf of the American public.”
The White House referred The Associated Press to Secretary Besant’s comments in response to an inquiry about the status of the settlement. In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump would not confirm whether the compensation fund had been canceled or was simply on hold. “I have to ask the lawyers, I don’t know,” he told reporters. “For me, it was a beautiful thing,” he said.
The administration decided to cancel the Compensation Fund plans, which would have included payments to Compensation Fund participants January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitolafter the anger of both parties and Fierce political reaction Which threatened to disrupt key elements of the White House’s agenda. However, the IRS immunity deal was put in place as part of the controversial settlement that was designed to solve Trump’s problem $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS It remains unclear, although Blanche said Tuesday that “nothing has changed” in that regard.
Last week, the federal judge in Florida overseeing Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, who had initially dismissed the case, reopened the case and ordered the president’s lawyers to respond to allegations that Trump dropped his claims to avoid court scrutiny of the deal.
When the case was initially dismissed, Kathleen Williams, the judge prosecuting the case, faulted the Justice Department for a lack of transparency, saying that neither agency had “provided any settlement documents nor provided any documents ensuring that the settlement was appropriate when there is an outstanding question as to whether there was an actual case or controversy.”
Matt Platkin, a former New Jersey attorney general who now works at the law firm Platkin LLP, which represents lawmakers and judges challenging the settlement agreement, called it “one of the greatest frauds in American history.”
He told The Associated Press that Blanche’s testimony on Tuesday about plans to eliminate the gun fund and grant Trump immunity from scrutiny “underscores the need for the court to continue its investigation in Florida.”
On Wednesday, lawmakers tried to question Picente about the agreement to no avail.
“Secretary Besent owes the committee an explanation of what the Treasury Department knows about the dirty settlement,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., “because his department was involved from beginning to end.”
Wyden Besant asked: “Does the audit immunity that the IRS grants to Trump, his family, and his companies still exist?”
Bessent declined to respond, citing the unresolved legal dispute.
If the president’s tax audits and checks are eliminated under the settlement, an untold number could be wiped off his bill to the federal tax collector.
Previous reports from the New York Times and ProPublica show that A A long-term review of the technology reportedly used by Trump To avoid paying taxes years ago could have resulted in a bill estimated at $100 million if the IRS found wrongdoing.
Some Republicans even expressed concern Wednesday about Trump’s IRS protection plan.
“I don’t think any American should make a deal like this,” Senator Bill Cassidy, R-Los Angeles, said, speaking to reporters outside the chamber.
Nina Olson, founder of the Center for Taxpayer Rights, which sued the Trump administration over IRS immigration enforcement disclosures, called the settlement “the lowest point for the IRS since the 1970s and President Nixon’s efforts to help his friends by trying to stop IRS audits of them and hurt his enemies by urging the IRS to conduct audits of them.”