Letters from an American - Blocking the Slush Fund

Episode Date: May 22, 2026

May 20, 2026Daniel Hodges aed Harry Dunn, who defended the Capitol on January 6, sue Trump to block the creation of his slush fund to pay off those convicted of crimes related to that attack, The lawsuit covers what actually happened on January 6, in detail, In the House, Rep Jamie Raskin has introduced an act to prohibit use of federal funds to pay off anyone claiming to have faced “weaponization,” Trump is making it clear that making money and building monuments to himself are his priorities, Funding for the ballroom could not go into a budget reconciliation measure, so Trump is trying to replace the Senate parliamentarian, Republicans are taking note of Trump’s cratering approval ratings, Trump has backed Ken Paxton against John Cornyn in Texas, and successfully backed the challenger to Kentucky’s Thomas Massie, but shrinking margins suggest that his hold may be loosening.Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

May 20, 26. Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges and former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn sued President Donald J. Trump, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent today to block the creation of the fund to pay off those convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit begins in the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century. President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name.

The suit continues. The fund is illegal. No statute authorizes its creation, the settlement on which it is premised is a corrupt sham, and its design violates the Constitution and federal law. Both Hodges and Dunn defended the Capitol and the lawmakers in it on January 6th. Hodges was the man in the infamous photograph of the rioters crushing a police officer between metal doors. The officers claimed the standing to say, sue because they have had to live with death threats and harassment since January 6th from

Maga Republicans, and the plan to pay off rioters will both compensate and empower the very people making those threats. Militias like the proud boys will use money from the fund to arm and equip themselves. The fund will grant their past acts of violence legal imprimatur, and most chillingly, the fund will signal to past and potential future perpetrators of violence against Dun & Hodges that they need not fear prosecution. To the contrary, they should expect to be rewarded. The lawsuit covers what actually happened at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, beginning shortly afternoon, when rioters tried to break into the building

to stop the counting of the electoral votes that would make Democrat Joe Biden president. Hours of hand-to-hand combat ensued, the lawsuit recounts, as police officers tried to prevent the rioters from entering the building and killing elected officials and their staff. On the west front of the Capitol,

rioters broke down barriers made of bike racks, signs and snow fencing and pushed forward to a line of police officers. Rioters attacked officers, sprayed them with chemicals, and hit them with pipes, tools, and the bike racks and stolen police equipment that were now strewn about. After two o'clock, the rioters broke through the line of officers, smashed windows, and forced their way into the building, opening the doors for their comrades. As rioters stalked the halls, staffers, journalists, and members of Congress hid in offices, hoping not to be found by people screaming, hang Mike Pence, and where's Nancy? They forced their way into the Senate chamber just minutes after Vice President Mike Pence left it. Meanwhile,

officers continued to fight against the advancing mob. Riaders punched police, speared them with flagpoles, attacked them with tasers and stolen riot shields, and tried to drag them into the crowd. For three hours in the enclosed tunnel connecting the Capitol to the inaugural stage, rioters engaged in an almost medieval style of combat, pushing exhausted and outnumbered police to get into the building in a heave-ho rhythm, nearly crushing officers as they did. through all of this amid the fighting and screaming, flashbangs exploded, fire retardants shot into the air, and chemical spray filled the tunnel. Many officers were injured in this fight to defend this entrance, some gravely. Hodges was hit from above with a heavy object, kicked in the chest and driven to the ground. Shortly thereafter, a rioter grabbed Hodges by the face.

and tried to gouge out his eyes. Hodges shook him off and eventually made his way to the tunnel connecting the Capitol building to the inaugural stage. There he joined in some of the most furious fighting that day, as police tried to stop the mass of rioters from flooding into the building. In the rushing crowd of the mob, Hodges was nearly crushed between metal doors by the enraged attackers. He later said that he thought, be the end. After several hours, National Guard forces, including from Virginia and Maryland, helped the officers to get control and expel the rioters from the Capitol. The lawsuit recounts the events of the day in detail, making it clear exactly who it is that Trump wants to reward

with almost $2 billion in taxpayer money. Hodges and Dunn are not the only people going after what is not just the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, but the most brazen act of presidential corruption in American history, by far. In the House, Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat of Maryland, today introduced the no-taxpayer-funded Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2026, which would prohibit the use of federal funds to pay off anyone claiming to have faced weaponization of the law by the federal government, including any of the January 6th rioters. Congress must reassert the power of the purse and stop this brazen looting of taxpayer funds before this pilot program for massive partisan corruption

becomes the permanent operating system of our government, Raskin said. Democrats also demanded the Department of Justice preserve any and all documents and communications about the agreement. Scott McFarlane of Midas Touch reported that even Republicans hate the slush fund and non-prosecution agreement, telling Nicole Wallace of MS Now, there are so many Republicans coming out against this thing. It appears to me this slush fund is like as popular as poison ivy. Nobody is claiming ownership of this thing. I have zero statements of support for this fund from any congressional Republican.

Yesterday, before news broke of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's addendum to the original agreement, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, Adam Smith of California, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, sent a memo to the Department of Justice asking whether Blanche was following the advice of ethics lawyers in the department in his handling of issues having to do with Trump, as he had promised to do in his confirmation hearings. Lawyer George Conway posted that Blanche never intended to carry out that promise. It is clear that members of the Trump administration never intended to honor the Constitution or serve the American people, raising the question of what exactly they do intend. For Trump,

making money is clearly a major part of it. The anger over the slush fund has pushed out of the news a growing outcry over the news from earlier this week that Trump bought and sold at least $220 million in stocks like those of Nvidia, Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft, while making policy and public announcements that affected the value of those stocks. Trump is also into building monuments to himself in the nation's capital, the repainted reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, the Kennedy Center, and the triumphal arch behind the Lincoln Memorial that would frame the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Arlington National Cemetery. Trump has paid special attention to the ballroom he intends to build on the site where the east wing of the White

House used to be, saying it will be done by September 28. Republicans, tried to get $1 billion put into a reconciliation bill to fund what Trump claimed was security measures for the ballroom. Unlike most measures that come before the Senate, a reconciliation bill cannot be filibustered, and so needs only 51 votes rather than 60 to pass. But Democrats recently stopped that Republican plan by noting that Republicans failed to give the required instructions

to all the relevant committees. The Senate parliamentarian agreed with them and said the request could not go into a budget reconciliation measure. Senate Republicans, who were uncomfortable with the request anyway, removed it. Trump apparently did not get the memo. Today, he insisted that Republicans replaced the Senate parliamentarian with a Trump loyalist. His social media account posted, Shockingly, Republicans have kept the very important, position of parliamentarian in the hands of a woman, Elizabeth McDonough, who was appointed long ago

by Barack Hussein Obama and a vicious lunatic known as Senator Harry Reid, who ran the Senate for the Democrats with an iron fist. Over the years, she has been brutal to Republicans, but not to the Democrats, so why has she not been replaced? He went on to demand the Senate forced through the Save America Act that would significantly restrict voting, and to call for the Senate to kill the filibuster, which would give us everything. He went on. If we don't pass at least one of these two provisions quickly, you will never see another Republican president again. But Senate Republicans are signaling they may not want to play ball with a president

whose approval ratings showed up today at an abysmal 34% and who was demanding loyalty to himself alone rather than working for the party. On Meet the Press Sunday, Senator Lindsay Graham, a Republican of South Carolina, reacted to the defeat of Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana's Republican primary after Trump backed his rival

by saying, this is the party of Donald Trump. Trump made that. clear yesterday when after waffling for months he endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a primary runoff over Senator John Cornyn's seat to be held next week. Trump called Paxton a true MAGA warrior and complained that Cornyn was not supportive of me when times were tough. Bloomberg reporter Stephen T. Dennis noted that Democratic Senate candidate James Tala Rico

has to be doing the happy dance. This is going like Democrats would have scripted it, Dennis wrote. A late Trump endorsement after Cornyn and Senate Republicans incinerated about $100 million trying to nuke Ken Paxton as an impeached adulterer who violated ethics left and right. House Republicans have all of also borne the pressure of Trump's wrath. Yesterday, Representative Thomas Massey, a Republican of Kentucky, who helped to lead the charge for the release of the Epstein files, lost his primary to a Trump-backed

challenger in what was the most expensive House primary ever. Ed Galrain, who won the primary, vows that he will do whatever Trump tells him to. Trump-backed primary candidates also wanted to. in Georgia and Alabama. White House spokesperson Stephen Cheung posted, do not ever doubt President Trump and his political power. I'm around. Find out. But as political commentator Jessica Tarlove noted, Massey's district went for Trump by 35 points in 2024, but Galrain won by just 10 points after outside money spent an astronomical $35 million on the race, when winning a primary usually costs between $100,000 and $500,000.

Tarlov added that Trump isn't offering much of a platform for Republicans to run on. She said, it's basically, I want absolute loyalty. I want to trade stocks, make hundreds of millions of dollars, I want my 1776 fund to make sure J-Sixers, you know, get the money that they're owed. I want immunity for me and my family from an audit forevermore. I want to get rich, and I don't care that you are poorer. Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dead of Massachusetts.

recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.