Neal Lambasts Trump's Corrupt IRS Settlement

SPRINGFIELD, MA—Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard E. Neal (D-MA) released the following statement after reports that the Trump Administration forced a settlement agreement halting any present and future IRS scrutiny into Trump and his family while allowing Trump-affiliated businesses to profit from his taxpayer-backed slush fund, among other brazen acts of corruption:  

“Donald Trump has turned the federal government into his personal protection racket. This settlement is corruption in the plainest sight: forcing IRS to abandon every audit, past and present, into Trump, his family, and their businesses while steering $1.8 billion in taxpayer dollars toward his friends, cronies, and Trump-affiliated companies is self-dealing at its most grotesque. The very same Americans who are struggling with groceries and gas are now being forced to bankroll this billionaire’s legal shakedown and the enrichment of his family empire. 

“Trump has never played by the rules. He’s attacked the IRS for years, treated the tax code like it only applies to others, even blocking the mandatory audit program for presidents, and now, forced the government into surrender. As the President’s personal lawyers and the DOJ operate as one, Trump’s plan comes into focus: pickpocketing you for his own gain while using the entire government as his personal army. It’s hard to see how he ever meaningfully participates in our taxation system again.

“It’s a dark, dark day for our democracy.”

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