Topline
President Donald Trump’s settlement with the IRS was updated Tuesday to include a provision that appears to bar the government from prosecuting Trump and his family for certain crimes and end any IRS audits against him, a sweeping move that Democrats and legal experts have criticized as a way for the president to get around restrictions on him pardoning himself.
President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One on May 15 in Beijing.
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Key Facts
Trump and the government first announced the settlement of his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS on Monday, saying he was dropping the case in exchange for the creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, but an addendum to the settlement agreement was added Tuesday.
That addendum says the U.S. is “forever barred” from prosecuting or bringing civil claims against Trump, his two oldest sons, the Trump Organization and other “affiliated individuals” for actions that already happened by the date of the settlement, both tied to the IRS suit and for “any matters currently pending or that could be pending” before other government agencies.
Legal experts have interpreted the provision to mean the government must drop any ongoing tax audits for Trump, his oldest sons and the Trump Organization, and more broadly cannot prosecute Trump or sue him in civil court for tax and many other types of charges.
The updated settlement has been criticized as amounting to a “get-out-of-jail-free card” or a “pardon” for the president, as the issue of whether Trump could more straightforwardly just pardon himself for crimes has been a legal grey area—but it’s widely believed he cannot.
Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance said Tuesday that Trump “seems to have found a way around the likely legal rule that a president can’t pardon himself,” while House Democrats described the updated settlement as a “Super-Pardon” in a letter Wednesday to Trump administration officials.
The Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment on the updated settlement, but Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified to Congress on Tuesday, before the updated settlement was made public, that Trump did not play a role in negotiating the IRS settlement.
Crucial Quote
“Donald Trump just got the one thing that most experts agree—even with the expansive power he has as president—that he can’t do for himself, and that’s give himself a pardon,” Vance told MS Now on Tuesday about the updated settlement agreement. “This would seem to say that he’s off scot-free.”
Can Presidents Pardon Themselves?
Legal experts have long debated whether presidents have the power to pardon themselves, and no president has ever tested the system by trying—though Trump has previously suggested he could. The DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a 1974 memo during Richard Nixon’s presidency and the Watergate scandal that determined presidents cannot pardon themselves, pointing to “the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” While there could be ways around that prohibition—like using the 25th Amendment to temporarily step down from the presidency and then have the vice president pardon the president—presidents could not straightforwardly issue a pardon to themselves, the Nixon-era DOJ wrote. Lawyers have long pointed to that memo to say presidents can’t pardon themselves, but the guidance isn’t legally binding. That means Trump or any future president could still try to pardon themselves, and it would likely ultimately be up to the Supreme Court to determine whether or not that’s allowed.
What Can Trump Still Be Investigated For?
The updated settlement agreement applies only to actions that have occurred before Trump settled the IRS case this week, and to tax returns that have already been filed. The DOJ has confirmed that means the IRS could still audit tax returns Trump files in the future. The language in the updated settlement agreement is fairly vague, so the full scope of the crimes Trump can or cannot be prosecuted for may ultimately have to be tested in court, if a future presidential administration takes legal action against the ex-president or his family.
How Does This Differ From The Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling?
The Supreme Court in 2024 gave Trump widespread relief from federal prosecution, as justices ruled current and former presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for their “official acts” in office. Presidents still can be prosecuted for actions they take as private citizens that are separate from their job, however—but Tuesday’s settlement agreement now appears to immunize Trump from many unofficial acts that could potentially still be prosecuted, such as issues with his personal tax filings. It also appears to cover possible crimes involving the president and his oldest sons’ business interests, as his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump Organization—who were plaintiffs in the IRS case—are also covered by the settlement.
Key Background
Trump sued the IRS in January, asking for $10 billion because the IRS allegedly violated his privacy when a contractor leaked details of his tax returns to news outlets. The IRS never actually responded to the lawsuit, and the judge in the case expressed concerns about it moving forward, questioning whether Trump and the IRS—a federal agency he ultimately controls as president—were actually on opposing sides, as is required for litigation to proceed. Trump settled the case before the judge could rule on whether or not to throw it out, however, sparking widespread criticism not only about the settlement itself, but also the optics of Trump getting a 10-figure fund out of a lawsuit that was potentially never valid to begin with. The first part of Trump’s IRS settlement created a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for those who feel they’ve been victimized by the Justice Department, though the pool of money has been widely criticized by Democrats and ethics experts as being a “slush fund” for Trump’s political allies to get taxpayer funds, including those convicted for participating in the Jan. 6 riot. Former Trump official Michael Caputo became the first person to officially request relief through the fund late Tuesday, asking for $2.7 million in compensation, and Capitol police officers who defended the Capitol during the riot sued the government Wednesday over the fund’s legality.