Weeks after top Senate Democrats pushed for answers on whether a provision in the controversial tax settlement between President Trump and his own administration applies to companies co-founded by or affiliated with the Trump family, several of the businesses have distanced themselves from the deal, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who launched the investigation.
As part of the settlement, which was finalized in May by the Justice Department to resolve a lawsuit brought by Mr. Trump, the Internal Revenue Service is permanently barred from pursuing claims against Mr. Trump, his oldest sons Don Jr. and Eric, and the Trump Organization based on prior tax returns.
In a one-page document signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and dated May 19, the Justice Department said the defendants in the president’s lawsuit — the IRS and the Treasury Department — are “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED” from “prosecuting or pursuing, any and all claims” related to tax returns filed before the settlement took effect. Blanche also wrote that the settlement applies to “parties including trusts, parent, sister, or related companies, affiliates, and subsidiaries.”
The settlement has become a sticking point in the push to confirm acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the role permanently after two Republican senators expressed reservations about supporting Blanche’s nomination over the IRS deal and a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that was also at the heart of the deal.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, one of the GOP holdouts, said Wednesday that a proposed meeting with Blanche had been called off and that the deal “provides immunity [to Mr. Trump] from audits that no other taxpayer could possibly get.” The other GOP senator who initially didn’t commit to voting for Blanche’s confirmation, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, has indicated he is closer to supporting Blanche.
Earlier this month, Warren, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden of Oregon pushed 11 businesses and organizations with ties to the Trump family to get answers for the “significant questions” the settlement raises relating to the tax audit provision, and whether the companies are included in the deal.
Mining company Kaz Resources, defense firm Powerus, cryptocurrency companies World Liberty Financial and American Bitcoin, robotics startup Foundation Future Industries, investment firm 1789 Capital and private aviation company Tag Air were among the companies receiving letters, as well as prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi.
All of the companies either were founded by Mr. Trump and his two adult sons, or list members of the Trump family as advisers, board members, or partial owners. Donald Trump Jr. sits on Polymarket’s advisory board and 1789 Capital, where he’s a partner, has invested in Polymarket. Days before Mr. Trump took office for his second term, Kalshi also announced Trump Jr. would be a strategic adviser.
Trump Media and Technology Group, which is majority owned by a trust that lists Mr. Trump as a beneficiary and operates the Truth Social platform he uses daily, also received a letter from the Democratic senators.
In letters obtained by CBS News, representatives from Trump Media and Technology Group, Kalshi, Polymarket, Kaz Resources, Powerus, and American Bitcoin all distanced themselves from the IRS audit deal.
In a letter from Trump Media and Technology Group to the senators, a lawyer representing the company said that the company “is not party to such settlement and is not aware of any applicability to TMTG.”
The senators also asked the Trump Organization in a separate letter if it believed it has “immunity from all audits, civil penalties or federal prosecution” for any crimes that could have occurred before the settlement.
The organization, as well as World Liberty Financial, 1789 Capital, Tag Air, Inc. and Foundation Future Industries also never responded, Warren’s office said.
“Several Trump-tied companies failed to respond to our basic questions about this corrupt agreement, raising real concerns that they plan to use it as a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Senator Warren said in a statement to CBS News. “Americans deserve answers and accountability now.”
Because the Democrats, who are in the minority, lack subpoena power, Mr. Trump, his children and his companies were not forced to answer the questions posed by the senators.
The settlement was announced months after Mr. Trump and two of his sons and the Trump Organization accused the IRS and Treasury Department of unlawfully allowing a government contractor to leak tax returns to media outlets in 2020.
