Plunder, in Writing

They are not hiding it. They are not ashamed of it. They want us to see it and accommodate ourselves to the new order of things.

The President has put himself above the law. He is plundering the public fisc.

And his mob cheers him on.

This is where we are.

This is where our country now stands. In the muck and mire of one man’s greed, lies, vanities, rages, hatreds, and larceny.

In the gleeful civic vandalism of his mob.

Our beloved Republic was founded by men who knew their own frailties and fallen natures, the frailties and fallenness we all share. They built a constitutional structure to protect their experiment in self-government against these facts of human nature. It lasted a good while.

Now, on the eve of the 250th anniversary of their Great Declaration, all that they hoped for is under a terrible threat, all that they feared is coming to pass.

The Founders always knew a man like Donald Trump would rise. They had studied the history of governments closely, the ancient republics especially. They had read their Cicero:

“What was left of Rome, Antony, owed its final annihilation to yourself. In your home, everything had a price: and a truly sordid set of deals it was…What law, what court, what custom did you leave untouched?”

Madison, Adams, Jefferson—all of them—they took the lesson to heart. They knew that some day, the people would grow tired of the duties and rigors of citizenship. That some day, in these United States as in every republic in history, a man would rise promising to relieve us of those duties and rigors, and seize power and loot the Treasury while mesmerizing his mob, declaring that he was making the nation great again, great “like nobody has ever seen before.”

This is where we are.

And the thing is, Trump and his gang aren’t even trying to hide it.

On Monday, the Justice Department announced that President Trump was dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the 2019 leak of his tax returns (which was part of a criminal leak of the tax returns of 405,000 other Americans).

In exchange for Trump dropping his lawsuit against the government he presides over, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche—Trump's former personal defense lawyer—established a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to pay people who claim they were targets of the Biden administration, a pool that could include January 6 rioters convicted of assaulting police officers. So much for “Back the Blue.”

Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization would receive only a formal apology, not money. That was the deal as announced.

Then—the real deal emerged, breathtakingly corrupt. In a public document. With a signature. On Justice Department letterhead.

The audacity is the tell. They are not hiding it. They are not ashamed of it. They want us to see it. Get used to it. And accommodate ourselves to the new order of things.

In a one-page addendum to the deal, signed only by Blanche, Trump and his family are formally placed beyond the reach of federal tax law. Forever.

In the words of the document: The United States "RELEASES, WAIVES, ACQUITS, and FOREVER DISCHARGES" Trump, his sons, the Trump Organization, and a sweeping circle of family members, trusts, parent companies, sister companies, affiliates, and subsidiaries from any federal pursuit of "tax returns filed before the Effective Date"—that is, every tax return any of them has ever filed.

The President sued the government he runs. His own Justice Department, run by his toady personal defense lawyer, “settled” with him. That settlement funnels nearly two billion taxpayer dollars to his political allies and shields his family's entire tax history from federal scrutiny.

Forever.

One man signed the order. He was Trump's lawyer last year. He is the Acting Attorney General this year.

So here is what citizenship now requires.

• Call your senator. Both parties, but especially the Republicans who talk about their discomfort, and now must be made to live up to their oath of office. Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota, Majority Leader of the Senate, said he “wasn’t a big fan” of the deal. Make him cast a vote. Demand a roll call on whether the fund and the addendum are to stand. Names go in the Congressional Record. The Congressional Record is read by the future.

• Force the memo into the light. Demand the legal opinion on which Blanche relied to sign that one page. If there is no memo, force that fact into the light.

• Look to the states. The federal release does not bind state attorneys general. New York’s tax filings are state matters. The Constitution made the states sovereign over their own affairs for exactly this purpose.

• Look to the bar. Todd Blanche is a member of the bar of New York. A bar license is not a costume. It can be taken away. The bar associations should open inquiries into whether his signature on that one-page addendum violated his duty under the law to the client he actually serves—the United States, not the man who appointed him.

• Refuse the euphemism. To my former colleagues in the corporate/mainstream media. Stop with the weasel words. This deal is not “controversial.” Not “unusual.” Not “raised concerns.” Corruption. Self-dealing. Immunity laundering. The fight over the words is the fight over the thing. The job of a journalist is to open your eyes, see the thing that is in front of you, and call it by its right name.

• Show up. Town halls, school boards, county courthouses, the No Kings rallies. Citizenship is a muscle. It atrophies in a season. But it can be revived and restored—only by use.

• Keep the faith. Do not get discouraged. That is exactly what they want. Instead—consider what a privilege it is to stand up for our beloved country in this hour of her great need. How lucky we are to be called to this duty! How lucky we are to be alive in this moment. Take up the task with joy in your heart. Be a patriot. A Real Patriot.

—Terry