Trump Said to Demand Justice Dept. Pay Him $230 Million for Past Cases

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: New York Times

Oct. 21, 2025 Updated 2:39 p.m. ET


President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him, according to people familiar with the matter, who added that any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit.

The situation has no parallel in American history, as Mr. Trump, a presidential candidate, was pursued by federal law enforcement and eventually won the election, taking over the very government that must now review his claims. It is also the starkest example yet of potential ethical conflicts created by installing the president’s former lawyers atop the Justice Department.

Mr. Trump submitted complaints through an administrative claim process that often is the precursor to lawsuits. The first claim, lodged in late 2023, seeks damages for a number of purported violations of his rights, including the F.B.I. and special counsel investigation into Russian election tampering and possible connections to the 2016 Trump campaign, according to people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the claim has not been made public.

The second complaint, filed in the summer of 2024, accuses the F.B.I. of violating Mr. Trump’s privacy by searching Mar-a-Lago, his club and residence in Florida, in 2022 for classified documents. It also accuses the Justice Department of malicious prosecution in charging him with mishandling sensitive records after he left office. Lawyers said the nature of the claims posed undeniable ethics challenges. “What a travesty,” said Bennett L. Gershman, an ethics professor at Pace University. “The ethical conflict is just so basic and fundamental, you don’t need a law professor to explain it.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/us/politics/trump-justice-department-compensation.html

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No paywall (gift)

[calguy]

1. And of course, Pam Bondi will agree

[Irish_Dem]

2. Just hand the entire US Treasury to Trump.

It will save time and energy.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. You got to be kidding

trump is insane

Breaking News: President Trump wants 0 million from the Justice Department for investigating him, people familiar with the matter say. Any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit. nyti.ms/4hmIi5X

— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) 2025-10-21T18:34:38.421458Z

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. He has no shame. It's somewhat inhuman

but I'm not sure it's "insane" - he has nothing to lose by trying this, and $230 million to gain.

[AZJonnie]

4. RIIIIIIGHT. But the DoJ, obviously at Trump's orders, charging Comey, James, and Bolton is conversely NOT

"malicious prosecution" whatsoever!

Fuck this motherfucker and his fucking gaslighting bullshit

[Vinca]

6. He does know they were dismissed without prejudice, doesn't he? They can come back January 21,2028.

[Battle Blue]

7. What a Deal

Surprised it was "only" $230 million and not $230 billion.

[thesquanderer]

8. And both claims involve SUCCESSFUL operations!

The Russia investigation DID result in guilty please/convictions (as well as evidence of obstruction which was not pursued further).

The Mar-a-Lago search DID turn up the classified documents they suspected were there.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Let's see Jack Smith's evidence first.

[underpants]

10. They had a warrant for Mar a Lago. The whole thing was negotiated

so that the club would be empty and Trump wouldn’t be there.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. The grift goes on

[Solly Mack]

12. ...

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. MaddowBlog-Trump eyes $230 million payout from Justice Dept. as repayment for earlier investigations

“What a travesty,” one ethics lawyer said. “The ethical conflict is just so basic and fundamental, you don’t need a law professor to explain it.”

Mike Johnson won't swear in Adelita Grijalva. So we're suing. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb... GOOD! Mike Johnson is a weak little man who thinks he works for the Disease in the White House. He is paid by & works for the American People.

— Liberty & Justice (@stand4truth.bsky.social) 2025-10-21T22:11:10.455Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-eyes-230-million-payout-justice-dept-repayment-earlier-investiga-rcna238987

After whining about the FBI’s court-approved search of Mar-a-Lago and peddling a variety of false and familiar claims about his classified documents scandal, the Republican said, “I have a lawsuit that was doing very well, and when I became president, I said I’m sort of suing myself.”

He quickly added, “I don’t know, how do you settle the lawsuit? I’ll say, ‘Give me X dollars,’ right?”

The comments went largely unremarked, although they’re suddenly relevant anew. The New York Times reported:

President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him, according to people familiar with the matter, who added that any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit.

......Will such a gambit succeed? The Times’ report added, “According to the Justice Department manual, settlements of claims against the department for more than $4 million ‘must be approved by the deputy attorney general or associate attorney general,’ meaning the person who oversees the agency’s civil division.”

The deputy attorney general, it just so happens, led Trump’s criminal defense team before he was tapped to lead the DOJ. What’s more, the chief of the department’s civil division, Stanley Woodward Jr., also represented people in Trump’s orbit, including a Trump co-defendant and Patel (before the latter was confirmed to lead the FBI).

Bennett Gershman, an ethics professor at Pace University, told the Times, “What a travesty. The ethical conflict is just so basic and fundamental, you don’t need a law professor to explain it.”

He added, “And then to have people in the Justice Department decide whether his claim should be successful or not, and these are the people who serve him deciding whether he wins or loses. It’s bizarre and almost too outlandish to believe.”

[The Roux Comes First]

14. This is Like Chutz-pah Squared!

Especially since, to my knowledge, the overall conclusion of these investigations was that there was in fact considerable illegality and collusion of the sort that avoided saying the critical words out loud. As far as I can tell, he would never have been elected the first time without massive Russian assistance and Facebook acquiescence and greed.

[LudwigPastorius]

15. Naked corruption

Yet, the Trump sycophants in Congress will do nothing to end the continuing crime spree.