{"id":1495,"date":"2026-05-23T14:04:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T14:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1495"},"modified":"2026-05-23T14:04:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T14:04:06","slug":"editorial-shady-slush-fund-merits-disgusted-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1495","title":{"rendered":"Editorial: Shady slush fund merits disgusted response"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The dollar amount in Donald Trump\u2019s $1.776 billion slush fund memorializes this nation\u2019s revolutionary break from a king; if this agreement fully goes through, we might as well be returning to an unaccountable monarchy. The origin of this corrupt pot of cash for the president to pay himself, his family and his political allies, including Jan. 6 rioters and other democracy enemies was his personal lawsuit against the IRS, which has been settled with the new agreement to create the slush fund.<\/p>\n

Read more NASA reorganization shuffle combines programs, lands KSC new director<\/a><\/p>\n

If there has been one through-line to the second Trump administration, it is the effort to relentlessly push the boundaries of what is possible or acceptable by an executive a little further out every day. This represents one major leap in the direction of authoritarianism \u2014 the president directly raiding the public coffers to enrich cronies, not just via his corrupt business dealings and pseudo-bribes from foreign governments, but straight up getting checks from the public treasury.<\/p>\n

We must also ask what this outcome ultimately incentivizes. It\u2019s hard not to read it as the president paying the foot soldiers in his failed 2021 coup for their services, having already ensured that they won\u2019t face criminal consequences for their attempt to end American democracy. Shamefully, Florida had more residents among the Jan. 6 rioters than any other state; the arrests shone a light on the shadowy tangle of militia-like groups embedded in Central Florida, including current and past law enforcement officers. Are they now to be rewarded?<\/p>\n

Trump has continuously intimated that he may attempt to run for a third term; this would of course be unconstitutional, but Trump has demonstrated that he places very little stock in that document.<\/p>\n

The Anti-Weaponization Fund being set up in the Department of Justice will have a five-person board answering only to the attorney general, who is now Trump\u2019s former personal criminal defense lawyer Todd Blanche in an acting capacity. There will be no congressional oversight and no public accountability. It\u2019s also not clear who can seek money, but it seems clear that it could extend to the Jan. 6 rioters.<\/p>\n

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Pushed to the limit, Republicans show rare defiance to Trump\u2019s demands<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n