Newsom to impose 100% tax on California payees of Trump’s $1.8bn fund
State’s governor looks to thwart US president’s plan to divert money to allies, including January 6 rioters
California governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents.
In May, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced a fund to compensate alleged “victims of lawfare and weaponization”. It’s unclear who qualifies under this category.
The fund was the product of a settlement reached between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – the agency the president sued over his leaked tax returns.
Critics, including Newsom, have slammed the fund as a “boondoggle” designed to divert money to Trump’s allies. Speculation has swirled that its benefactors could include the individuals who were arrested in the 6 January 2021 siege of the US Capitol. The Trump administration has described the rioters as patriots and since pardoned many who were charged in relation to the attack.
“People who assault cops and overthrow democracy don’t deserve a taxpayer-funded payday,” Newsom wrote in a Wednesday post to X, after announcing his plan at a news conference.
Five people appointed by the US attorney general will preside over the $1.776bn, which will be funneled from a fund typically used to pay court judgments.
Todd Blanche, the acting US attorney general, characterized the fund as an avenue “to make right the wrongs that were previously done”. Quarterly reports on who has received monetary relief and in what amount will be sent to the attorney general. Claims will not be processed after 1 December 2028, at which point any remaining amount will be returned to the federal government, according to the DoJ.
The DoJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how it would address Newsom’s proposed tax.
It’s the latest in a longstanding bitter feud between Newsom and Trump.
The two politicians have often traded jabs in the press and over social media. They are at odds on a number of issues in the Golden state including the federal deployment of ICE agents, how healthcare fraud has been handled and election integrity.
So the bottom line is state’s governor looks to thwart US president’s plan to divert money to allies, including January 6. Wonder how this will land.
Critics, including Newsom, have slammed the fund as a “boondoggle” designed to divert money to Trump’s allies. Meanwhile state’s governor looks to thwart US president’s plan to divert money to allies, including January 6.
On one hand california governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents. But at the same time in May, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced a fund to compensate alleged “victims of lawfare and weaponization”.
The bigger issue here is the fund was the product of a settlement reached between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – the agency the president sued over his leaked tax returns. That changes the calculation.
Gavin Newsom is in a tough spot here, curious how they navigate it.
Gavin Newsom has been vocal about this, good to see them staying on it.
In other words california governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents. Curious to see how this develops.
Think about it: california governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents. That speaks volumes.
State’s governor looks to thwart US president’s plan to divert money to allies, including January 6. Meanwhile california governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents.
The fact that california governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents really puts things into perspective.
Reading that california governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents — hard to argue with the logic there.
The bigger issue here is critics, including Newsom, have slammed the fund as a “boondoggle” designed to divert money to Trump’s allies. That changes the calculation.
So the bottom line is in May, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced a fund to compensate alleged “victims of lawfare and weaponization”. Wonder how this will land.
Think about it: in May, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced a fund to compensate alleged “victims of lawfare and weaponization”. That speaks volumes.
If the fund was the product of a settlement reached between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – the agency the president sued over his leaked tax returns, then the bigger picture starts to look very different.