What are the odds that the president can successfully sue his own government to recoup hundreds of millions in damages from past federal investigations? If he were any other claimant, it would be a long shot, according to a legal expert and a former Department of Justice official who handled damages claims against the government.
Trump has asked the justice department to pay him $230m in damages, the New York Times reported last week. The amount is the total of two separate claims in which Trump argues he is entitled to compensation because of investigations into the links between Russia and his 2016 campaign as well as the 2022 search for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and subsequent criminal prosecution.
“Typically, someone who was asking for this amount of money, it would be very quickly rejected, because it would be thought of as absurd to request that amount,” said Gregory Sisk, a law professor at the University of St Thomas in Minnesota. “I cannot think of any prior claim, at least at this early stage, that has been settled that involves money approaching that level.”
Trump’s ‘absurd’ DoJ compensation bid would be rejected if he were anyone else, experts say
Donald Trump’s effort effort to win $230m in damages from Mar-a-Lago and Russia investigations is being criticized as “frivolous”, one expert told the Guardian.
The effort is also seen as a staggering act of corruption because the two justice department officials with power to sign off on the claims are Trump appointees and allies. House Democrats sent a letter to the justice department this week calling the effort “blatantly illegal and unconstitutional”.
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Trump fires federal arts board in charge of reviewing White House ballroom and ‘Arc de Trump’
Donald Trump has fired all six members of an independent federal agency responsible for reviewing his controversial White House ballroom and planned “Arc de Trump” in Washington DC.
The Washington Post first reported that all members of the Commission of Fine Arts were dismissed on Tuesday.
“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the Commission of Fine Arts is terminated, effective immediately,” read an email sent to one of the commissioners, which was obtained by the Post.
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Revealed: Pentagon orders states’ national guards to form ‘quick reaction forces’ for ‘crowd control’
A top US military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states, the District of Columbia and US territories to form “quick reaction forces” trained in “riot control”, including use of batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive reviewed by the Guardian.
The memo, signed on 8 October by Maj Gen Ronald Burkett, the director of the Pentagon’s national guard bureau, sets thresholds for the size of the quick reaction force to be trained in each state, with most states required to train 500 national guard members, for a total of 23,500 troops nationwide.
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Obamacare insurance prices will jump up 26% next year, report predicts
People in the US shopping for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces will face a steep 26% average price increase next year, according to new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation released just days before enrollment begins on 1 November.
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Senate Democrats demand list of donors to $300m Trump ballroom
Senate Democrats, led by Adam Schiff of California, are calling for full disclosure on how Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom is being financed.
The effort follows the release of a donor list showing that wealthy individuals and corporations, many with business before the federal government, have contributed to the project. Democrats argue that without transparency, the financing of the ballroom could become a channel for improper influence within the administration.
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Toyota denies promising to invest $10bn in US after Trump announcement
The Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor has denied Donald Trump’s suggestion that it is poised to invest more than $10bn in the United States over the coming years.
On a visit to Japan earlier this week, the US president claimed he had been told that the carmaker was going to be setting up factories “all over” the US “to the tune of over $10bn”.
“Go out and buy a Toyota,” added Trump.
What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened Tuesday 28 October.
