Were you one of the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021? If so, you are about to hit the jackpot! Here’s how.

On January 29, 2026 Donald Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS because he said his tax return was improperly accessed. This is weird on so many levels but mainly because it was basically that Trump was suing himself since he was president. He even stated that in so many words. But it looked like the courts weren’t going to buy it, so he withdrew the lawsuit and said he would settle for a $1.776 billion fund available to those who suffered from Biden’s weaponization of the Department of Justice. Every penny of this would come from taxes that have been paid by you and your fellow taxpayers who work hard and struggle and sometimes have to go without one thing to pay for something you deem more important.

How will this money be doled out? Writing in The Maddow Blog, Steve Benen says,”Trump’s former lawyer, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, will be responsible for choosing five people who will administer the fund for the remainder of Trump’s second term…but the president will also have the authority to fire commission members at his discretion…” The “agreement” provides for no independent oversight of the distribution of money.

What process there would be has nothing to do with Congress which constitutionally holds the purse strings of the government. This prompted journalist Alex Wagner to ask, “What is the point of having a Legislative Branch if the president can make up phantom law suits and then settle them with himself, then appropriate billions of dollars to be used to his own ends with no transparency allocated by a commission of his choosing?”

When asked why the average American taxpayer should foot the bill for people who were prosecuted for attacking the people’s house, acting AG Blanche said that if those people were told their government had committed a “horrible wrong” and that victims could get their legal fees back, no reasonable American would object to that. Furthermore he said, “I do not think the American people have issues with that. To the contrary, I think they do want their tax dollars spent on things like that.”

Michael Caputo, a former Trump adviser and administration official investigated in the Russia probe, is asking for $2.7 million. Brandon Fellows, a convicted Capitol rioter who was pardoned by Trump, wants $30 million. Others who are rumored to be considering this handout are convicted ex-congressman George Santos and former Democratic governor of Illinois Rob Blagojevich, whose 14 year sentence was commuted by Trump. You may remember Blagojevich was convicted because he tried to “sell” Barack Obama’s senate seat.

But the slush fund for criminals isn’t the worst part of this deal. The rest of the “agreement” says that the government would be “forever barred and precluded” from prosecuting tax claims against anyone in the Trump family or any of Trump’s businesses. This includes both past and future audits. Neither Donald Trump nor any of his children nor any of his businesses will be subject to investigation by the IRS ever – that’s NEVER EVER! So Donald Trump, Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, Tiffany, and Barron will be able to get away with never paying taxes and there will be absolutely nothing that can be done about it!! And what would prevent them from filing a tax return that asks for millions in refunds? Nothing that I can see.

And there’s another slap in the face. The amount affixed to this scam is $1.776 billion – 1776, get it? On the 250th anniversary of our country, he chose this amount as a joke maybe? Our founding fathers must be spinning in their graves. The nation that they were so careful to craft as a democratic republic has turned into a kleptocracy (from the Greek word meaning rule by thieves).

What will be next? Will Trump raid Fort Knox and take the gold that is there to back up our monetary system? If you melt it down, it would look nice in that ballroom.

Verna Caruso is a native of Muncy, who now resides in Williamsport. She is a former staff member at Inc. magazine and former Chair of the Lycoming County Democratic Committee.