'Hard to fathom how bad this is': How Trump's $230M payout could be made in secret

U.S. President Donald Trump attends the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 15, 2025. REUTERS Nathan Howard

The New York Times’ bombshell report that President Donald Trump is seeking a $230 million payout from the U.S. Department of Justice as compensation for the DOJ’s investigations into him could be even worse than first reported.

According to The New Republic‘s Greg Sargent, in an interview with U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, the payout could be made confidentially — at least at first.

Congressman Raskin — who sees this as a “civic emergency” — and Judiciary Democrats are investigating the Trump demand.

“Our reading is that, even though this is a private settlement, it doesn’t have to be disclosed anywhere until there is an accounting of where all the money has gone at the end of the year,” Raskin told Sargent.

But according to Raskin, the “domestic Emoluments Clause says the president may not receive any compensation at all from the U.S. government or the states beyond his official salary.”

“This means he cannot be ordering government officials to write checks to the president.”

“Are we going to have presidents from here on in just shaking down the Department of Justice or other parts of the U.S. government for money to put in their pockets?” Raskin asked.

Trump has acknowledged that ultimately he would likely be the one making the final decision on whether to pay himself the $230 million — although his former personal attorney, Todd Blanche, now the Deputy Attorney General, would be among those also involved in the determination.

Sargent alleges that “for Trump to continue seeking these payments as president is even more wildly corrupt. The conflict-of-interest issues involved in Blanche making this decision are obvious. This is probably unconstitutional, too.”

He adds, “It’s hard to fathom how bad this is,” and explains that Trump “sought damages from DOJ from the Russia investigation,” and “in 2024, Trump sought damages related to the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago.”

Raskin says he wants the internal communications between Trump and the DOJ, including any with Blanche.

“We want the entire paper trail,” Raskin told Sargent. “We’re looking for any correspondence, memoranda, or records of conversations between the White House and the Department of Justice. If we had subpoena power, we would be going after that.”

Democrats would need the House majority to obtain subpoena power.

“It goes without saying that anybody in the Trump administration who violates the law is now expecting a pardon from Donald Trump,” Raskin told Sargent, while not specifically mentioning Blanche. “If you want the protection of the president, you need to comply with his every wish.”

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