Williams/CQ-Roll
Call,
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via
Getty
Images)
Scott
Bessent
has
to
pretend
to
believe
a
lot
of
nonsense,
but
Donald
Trump’s
lawsuit
against
the
IRS
is
really
making
the
Treasury
Secretary
work
for
it.
Last
week,
the
president
dropped
his
latest
trollsuit,
this
time
targeting
the
government
over
the
leak
of
his
tax
returns
in
2020
by
Charles
Littlejohn,
a
contractor
for
Booz
Allen
Hamilton.
The
New
York
Times
penned
dozens
of
stories
about
those
returns
before
the
2020
election,
but
Trump
claims
not
to
have
learned
about
it
until
January
of
2024,
when
Littlejohn
was
sentenced.
This
is
convenient,
since
any
civil
suit
over
wrongful
disclosure
of
tax
information
must
be
filed
within
two
years.
Less
convenient
is
the
fact
that
Trump’s
own
lawyer
Alina
Habba
appeared
at
Littlejohn’s
plea
hearing
on
October
12,
2023
“on
behalf
of
President
Trump
who
was
a
victim,
as
we
just
heard,
of
this
atrocity.”
But
no
matter!
Trump
demands
$10
billion
because
the
Times
wrote
mean
stuff
about
his
finances.
Plus,
he
and
his
company
had
to
“defend
against
a
meritless
civil
suit
brought
by
the
New
York
Attorney
General
based
on
wrongful
interpretation
of
unauthorized
disclosures
of
their
confidential
tax
returns
and
related
tax
information.”
KA-CHING!
This
puts
Secretary
Bessent
in
an
awkward
position
—
or,
two
awkward
positions
to
be
exact,
since
he
took
over
as
acting
Commissioner
of
the
IRS
after
Trump
pushed
out
Billy
Long,
his
own
pick
to
lead
the
agency.
If
Trump
“wins”
his
“lawsuit,”
then
the
taxpayers
will
be
on
the
hook
for
the
money.
Even
as
Americans
are
coughing
up
thousands
of
dollars
per
household
for
increased
health
insurance
premiums
and
those
“non-inflationary”
tariffs,
they’ll
be
asked
to
hand
the
president
an
eleven-figure
check.
It’s
breathtakingly
corrupt,
and
so
Bessent
has
figured
out
a
way
to
distance
himself
from
the
looting
of
his
agency:
He’s
blaming
Pam
Bondi.
“This
is
a
Justice
Department
matter.
They
represent
Treasury,”
he
sneered
in
response
to
questioning
by
Senator
Ruben
Gallego
about
the
glaring
conflict
of
interest.
So
much
for
the
unitary
executive
theory!
Apparently
the
DOJ
is
running
the
show,
and
Treasury
is
just
along
for
the
ride.
The
IRS
has
no
institutional
interest
or
say
in
the
litigation.
If
the
Attorney
General
decides
not
to
defend
against
a
patently
frivolous
lawsuit,
it’s
got
nothing
to
do
with
him.
“We
act
as
paymaster,”
Bessent
insisted,
conveniently
dumping
responsibility
for
the
plunder
of
his
agency
in
Bondi’s
lap.
When
hedge
fund
billionaire
Ken
Griffin
sued
the
Treasury
over
the
leak
of
his
tax
documents
— in
timely
fashion!
—
the
DOJ
mounted
a
robust
defense.
But
if
the
Bondi
decides
to
“lose”
this
lawsuit,
that’s
on
her.
Bessent
is
more
like
a
cash
register,
really,
or
an
AI
chatbot
being
ordered
to
generate
CSAM.
It’s
user
error!
It’s
a
neat
trick!
Someone
should
hurry
up
and
tell
DHS
Secretary
Kristi
Noem
that
she
has
to
do
whatever
the
DOJ
lawyers
tell
her
because
they’re
the
ones
really
in
charge.
That
would
save
those
poor,
harried
AUSAs
from
having
to
explain
to
judges
why
ICE
refuses
to
comply
with
court
orders.
Whether
it
saves
Bessent
from
being
held
responsible
for
the
coming
wealth
transfer
from
American
taxpayers
to
the
president’s
bloated
pockets
remains
to
be
seen
Liz
Dye produces
the
Law
and
Chaos Substack and podcast. You
can
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