The Department of Justice is finalizing a deal to launch a so-called “Truth and Justice Commission” and establish a compensation fund of $1,776,000,000 to pay claims made by alleged victims of government “weaponization” in exchange for President Donald Trump dropping his ongoing lawsuit<\/a> against the Internal Revenue Service, sources told ABC News.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sources told ABC News that the proposed deal — which is likely to face legal hurdles and has already been criticized by Democrats as a “slush fund” for Trump’s allies — arose after months of deliberations between the White House and DOJ officials who originally attempted to craft a legal justification for the settlement to compensate Trump directly.\u00a0<\/p>\n Internally, DOJ lawers believed they could ignore the conflict of interest outright, privately arguing that Trump has both the right to sue as a private citizen and the power to command the executive branch as president, according to sources familiar with their discussions.<\/p>\n Advocating a centuries-old legal principle known as the “rule of necessity,” DOJ lawyers have argued that no alternative existed other than letting the lawsuit proceed with Trump acting as the plaintiff while being directly in charge of the defendants — the IRS and Treasury — according to sources.<\/p>\n Sources said that plan was ultimately scuttled in favor of the $1.776 billion compensation fund — with the figure being a nod to the nation’s founding — as the judge overseeing Trump’s IRS lawsuit began to raise issues with Trump suing the very government he leads. In an order last month, U.S. District Judge Katheen Williams ordered Trump’s lawyers in the case and the Department of Justice to submit court filings<\/a> by next week to justify whether both sides of the case were sufficiently adverse for the matter to proceed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Terms of the proposed compensation arrangement could change before the deal is finalized, sources said.<\/p>\n Judge Williams also appointed a group of prominent attorneys — including a former solicitor general as well as a federal judge — to weigh in on the case.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One, May 15, 2026, as he returns from a trip to Beijing, China.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Mark Schiefelbein\/AP Photo<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In a court filing this week, the attorneys identified serious issues with the lawsuit, arguing that Trump has “extraordinary” control over the defendants in the case and that the “circumstances raise the specter that Defendants and their attorneys may instead be operating at the President’s direction.”<\/p>\n “Additionally, since taking office, President Trump has significantly expanded the President’s oversight and control over the Attorney General and DOJ, including in ways that blur the line between fidelity to the President’s policy priorities and fidelity to the President himself,” the filing said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump sued the IRS after a government contractor pleaded guilty<\/a> in 2023 to stealing the tax information of Trump and other wealthy Americans and leaking it to media outlets in 2019 and 2020.<\/p>\n![\"Alexandria](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/0145eaaf-7dce-4c25-b267-d01f8330011e\/donald-trump-1-ap-gmh-260515_1778859506169_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"Alexandria")
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