'It's emperor stuff' Bill Kristol calls for Trump's impeachment

Democrats are up in arms after the Department of Justice announced the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund to settle President Donald Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. As the top House Democrats pushed legislation to block the settlement, writer and former Secretary of State Bill Kristol detailed the transparency issues with the fund, demanding that Trump be impeached and prosecuted.

In a piece on his publication, The Bulwark, Kristol backed the reporting of Andrew Egger, labeling the fund as Trump's scheme to "simply seize and spend taxpayer money." The report states that every aspect of the fund appears to be intentionally structured to bypass outside accountability, judicial review, and government oversight. "Trump is trying to create a new status quo where his say-so is enough to overturn the will of two-thirds of Congress on spending matters," Kristol argued in his post on X. Sharing the article, he further wrote, "It’s un-American. It’s emperor stuff. If they had a shred of dignity left, they’d impeach the son of a bitch [Trump] today."

In the report, Egger notes that the Justice Department’s enforcement order and the settlement terms are seemingly dubious, as the Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, stated that the U.S. loses custody and control of the $1.776 billion as soon as it is transferred to the settlement account. "The United States has no liability whatsoever for the protection or safeguarding of those funds, regardless of bank failure, fraudulent transfers, or any other fraud or misuse of the funds," the document reads. 

Furthermore, the terms of the settlement make the disbursement of the money opaque. “The Anti-Weaponization Fund shall have the power to determine its own procedures for submitting, receiving, processing, and granting or denying claims,” the settlement reads. Moreover, the fund will be overseen by a five-member committee.

  "may make those procedures public in whole or in part, at its discretion.” This means the fund's members can keep the recipients of the money anonymous, and the eligibility is also open-ended, as the settlement says a claimant must merely “assert at least one legal claim stating that the claimant was a victim of Lawfare and/or Weaponization.” Lastly, what Egger described as the “cherry on top” is the provision deeming the claims process “voluntary,” thereby shielding it from any “appeal, arbitration, or judicial review of claims, offers, or other determinations made by the Anti-Weaponization Fund.”

Thus, with all the red tape surrounding the fund, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee swiftly moved to introduce legislation that would block the measure. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), introduced the bill with the motive to "kill the fund" with some support from the GOP.  "We're going to write a letter to the [attorney general] to start, but we're considering a legislative option," Fitzpatrick told reporters, Axios reported. Meanwhile, Raskin is considering a discharge petition as a backup to force a vote on his measure if it is blocked by the House Republican leadership, a spokesperson confirmed to the publication. Furthermore, two law enforcement officers who were on duty during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, have sued to dissolve the fund.