House Democrats launch probe into Trump’s potential $230M payment from his own Justice Department

By Annie Grayer, CNN

(CNN) — Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia are launching an investigation into President Donald Trump’s reported demand that his own Justice Department hand over $230 million as compensation for past federal investigations into him, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

Trump’s ask, made through administrative claims filed in 2023 and 2024, resurfaced in recent days after The New York Times reported on the matter and Trump confirmed publicly he “could be” seeking such a payment.

The top Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees are asking Trump to hand over a slew of documents, including the administrative claims filed by his legal representatives, his communications with his attorneys and government officials on the matter and all DOJ memoranda outlining the legal merits of the claims. Without a subpoena to compel the release of the information, however, it remains unlikely the Democrats’ request will gain much traction.

Trump, the Democrats argue, could have brought his claims to court much earlier. They say that the president is only pursuing this now because he has installed his own personal lawyers within the Department of Justice. It was not immediately clear what steps Trump or his legal team had taken in recent days or weeks to press the claims.

“If either of your claims had any merit, you could have taken them to court by now and litigated them publicly,” Raskin and Garcia wrote.

“You did not do that. Instead, you waited until you became President and installed your handpicked loyalists at DOJ, knowing that you could instruct them to co-sign your demand notes in secret behind closed doors, and then you could present the notes to the U.S. Treasury for cold hard cash courtesy of the American taxpayer. That isn’t justice, it is theft,” they continued.

Asked about the Times report, House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN on Thursday that he hasn’t “had time to get the details” and that “it’s still on my list of things to-do.”

However, at least one Republican – Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina – has conceded the president is in a “difficult position” and that the request is “terrible optics.”

“Particularly right now, we’re talking about a quarter of a billion dollars transferring, maybe to the president when we’re in a shutdown posture, so it’s at very best bad timing, but I think it’s horrible optics,” Tillis said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Trump said he “could be” seeking the money, though he professed to have little knowledge of the specifics and said he would give the money to charity.

“It could be,” Trump said from the Oval Office when asked about the Times report.

“I don’t know about the numbers. I don’t even talk to them about it. All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money. But I’m not looking for money. I’d give it to charity or something,” he said.

The president at the time acknowledged the unprecedented nature of the situation in which he would be potentially “paying himself” damages to resolve claims that the Justice Department under his predecessor had wronged him.

“With the country, it’s interesting, because I’m the one that makes the decision,” Trump said Tuesday.

“It’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself. In other words, did you ever have one of those cases where you have to decide how much you’re paying yourself in damages?” he said.

A settlement to Trump would come from taxpayer funds.

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CNN’s Manu Raju, Kit Maher and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.