Joe Rodriguez is a San Benito resident, a local citizen watchdog, and a former candidate for the San Benito City Commission.
In December 2022, the House Ways and Means Committee released six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, which showed he paid relatively little in federal taxes during and before his first term as president.
Trump reported millions in losses in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2020, and he paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017.
In 2019, Trump and his wife, Melania, reported significant losses of more than $16.4 million and a total income of $4.4 million.
The returns also show that Trump had numerous foreign bank accounts between 2015 and 2016, including in China, the U.K., St. Martin, and Ireland, a well-known tax haven.
The couple paid little in federal taxes during Trump’s presidency and appeared to owe none in 2020 after reporting large deductions and expenses that resulted in a net loss of $15 million. Trump then claimed a $5 million refund, according to the return.
Trump also reported zero charitable donations that year, according to the returns. That was an outlier for Trump during his time in office — he reported $1.8 million in charitable giving in 2017 and just over $500,000 in charitable donations in 2018 and 2019, according to the returns.
In 2019, an IRS contractor stole and leaked Trump’s tax returns to the media.
In late January 2026, Trump sued the IRS over the 2019 and 2020 leak of his tax information by an IRS contractor or employee.
Under the U.S. Constitution, there must be two opposing parties. In this case, Trump seems to control both sides of the lawsuit.
The judge was about to rule on whether it was an actual lawsuit when Trump and his sons, Eric and Don Jr., decided to arrange a voluntary settlement, hoping to bypass the court’s ruling on whether it was a real lawsuit.
The Trump administration announced on Monday, May 18, 2026, the creation of a $1,776 billion taxpayer-funded fund to compensate allies of the Republican president who believe they were mistreated by the Biden administration’s Justice Department.
The Treasury Department Judgment Fund already exists. This entity pays money to victims of the U.S. government who successfully bring claims against it.
That fund is subject to various statutory restrictions and oversight because Congress created it.
So now we have a situation in which that particular fund pays nearly $1.8 billion to this separate new fund, “The Anti-Weaponization Fund.” And this new entity/department will supposedly be used to pay whoever Trump and his allies decide has been victimized by the so-called weaponization of the government.
The kicker is that, supposedly, Trump will have total control over the fund’s members and will operate outside the U.S. Government with no U.S. Government oversight. All fund members are appointed by acting attorney general Todd Blanche, and Trump can fire them at will for any reason.
What we have here is that the U.S. Department of Justice can enter into a settlement with a private individual (who happens to be POTUS) without any judicial oversight whatsoever.
The Department of Justice also said the new fund will stop processing claims no later than December 15, 2028, just a few weeks before Trump vacates (we hope) the White House.
“This case is nothing but a racket designed to take $1.8 billion in taxpayer dollars from the Treasury and pour it into a huge slush fund at DOJ for Trump to hand out to his private militia of insurrectionists, rioters, and white supremacists, including those who brutally beat police officers on January 6, 2021, and sycophant accomplices to his election-stealing schemes,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
When asked in February how he would handle any potential damages from the case, Trump said, “I think what we’ll do is make a charitable donation.”
Who might those charities be? Well, probably the Oath Keepers, the Proud Boys, the 1,700 insurrectionists who pleaded guilty and were pardoned by Trump on Day One of his second presidency, and all of Trump’s other allies.
When a reporter asked Trump why taxpayers should pay for the $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund the DOJ created to settle his $10 billion IRS lawsuit, Trump replied, “I know very little about it; I wasn’t involved in the creation of it and the negotiation.”
He literally sued the U.S. Government for $10 billion and now is aping Sgt. Schultz from Hogan’s Heroes!
Here is the proverbial “sticking it to the taxpayers” situation: Per Meidas Touch on Facebook: “In a newly posted order signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Department of Justice states that the federal government is now permanently barred from pursuing a wide range of tax-related claims and reviews against Donald Trump, his family members, and affiliated companies.”
The order states that the United States “releases, waives, acquits, and forever discharges” Trump and that the United States is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing claims, examinations, reviews, appeals, monetary relief, and other actions against Trump and “related or affiliated individuals,” including family members, trusts, parent and sister companies, and subsidiaries.
In other words, this appears to grant sweeping protection not only to Trump but also to much of his family and businesses.
“The document was signed by Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal criminal defense attorney, who now serves as Acting Attorney General.” https://tinyurl.com/OAG-STATEMENT-MAY-19.
The U.S. Treasury’s highest-ranking lawyer, Treasury General Counsel Brian Morrissey, resigned just hours after President Trump announced his “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” serving just seven months after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate. https://tinyurl.com/Anti-Weaponization-Fund.
And what action will the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and U.S. Senate take to stop this brazen “Corruption on Steroids” attempt by Trump to dole out $1.8 billion in taxpayer money to his allies, supporters, and himself? Probably nothing until they grow a spine.
You literally cannot make this stuff up; we live in an “upside-down world.”