The idea of a president convincing his own Justice Department to furnish him with nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer cash seems too absurd to take seriously.
Putting aside unfathomable ethical implications, such a move would be one of the most glaring examples of a political tin ear in modern times, as many Americans struggle to pay rent or buy groceries.
For this reason, there must be a good chance that Donald Trump’s reported claims for damages over the DOJ’s past investigations into his conduct is a step too far even for him.
Yet Trump has often fashioned a new normality with his outlandish moves. His life in business and politics has been one long and lucrative attempt to apply leverage for personal or financial gain and to sate his thirst for payback. In an inverted political world, where he’s destroyed curbs that constrain presidents and turned the DOJ into a boutique personal law firm, the notion of a bumper personal payout cannot be immediately dismissed as a fantasy.
Trump declined the chance to do so himself in the Oval Office Tuesday after the New York Times reported on the claims. While he initially seemed hazy on details of the two claims, he didn’t rule anything out, saying they “coul
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