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Norm Eisen slammed Donald Trump on Wednesday over the president’s reported demand for the Justice Department to reimburse him $230 million for money he spent defending himself against federal criminal probes and charges.
“Nobody’s ever seen the kind of profit-grabbing exploitation of the presidency,” said the former Obama White House ethics lawyer on MSNBC.
Trump’s nine-figure request — first reported by The New York Times — may ultimately get approved by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who served as the president’s personal attorney. One critic described the proposed payment as the “most corrupt act in presidential history.”
Trump reportedly filed two administrative complaints against the DOJ: one related to the investigations into 2016 Russian interference claims and another tied to the probe into mishandled classified documents.
Eisen, when asked if he ever “envisioned” such a situation, noted that he once wouldn’t let Barack Obama refinance his “small family home” in Chicago when he was regulating the banks amid the Great Recession.
He noted that the Trump family is estimated to be making billions of dollars from both his terms.
“And that includes his crypto interests, for example, where he’s getting huge sums through those business enterprises that hit his pockets from Gulf nations, where we have strong interests,” Eisen continued.
Eisen declared that there’s a “barrier” to the proposed $230 million takeaway from taxpayers, pointing to the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution.
Eisen turned to Trump seemingly addressing the claims last week where he told reporters he’s “sort of suing myself” and it “sort of looks bad.”
“A president cannot seize that kind of money to benefit himself. Donald Trump just admitted it,” said Eisen, adding that the comments could be “Exhibit A” in a lawsuit against him.
He recalled lawsuits against the first Trump administration over emoluments, adding that they reached the Supreme Court before they were “mooted” when Trump first left office.
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“But if he breaks the law, he will be held accountable and so will those who are enabling this behavior,” Eisen began. “What do you expect if he does it? There will be legal accountability.”
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