‘The Dumbest Time in American History’: Kinzinger Blasts Trump’s ‘Slush Fund’ for Political Supporters

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) ripped President Donald Trump’s plan to set aside upwards of $1.7 billion for supporters the president says were unfairly targeted by the Biden administration.

The president sued the IRS in January after a contractor at the agency leaked his tax returns in 2019 and 2020.

His sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who run the Trump Organization, also sued. Based on those leaks, the Times reported in 2020 that the billionaire president paid just $750 in income tax in 2016 and in 2017. The leaks came from Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor who worked for Booz Allen. He pleaded guilty to unauthorized disclosures of tax returns and was sentenced in 2024 to the maximum of five years.

On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that the Department of Justice, which is representing the IRS in the case, has been holding internal discussions about settling the lawsuit. Then on Thursday, ABC News reported that Trump is poised to drop the suit in exchange for the creation of a fund that will pay up to $1.7 billion to some of his political allies, including those involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Kinzinger appeared on Friday’s Laura Coates Live on CNN, where the host asked for his reaction.

“So first, they were pardoned,” Laura Coates said, referring to Trump’s pardon of nearly every person convicted or charged in connection with Jan. 6. “Now we pay them?”

“We are gonna look back in 10 years and call this about the dumbest time in American history, I hope, at least,” Kinzinger replied. “$1.7 billion. That’s creepily about $1 million for each January 6th defendant if you actually do the math on that. And then if you look into what’s happening here, the president gets to pick who’s on the board. They ultimately get to make decisions – who gets this money? They’re not accountable to the public. They don’t have to show what they use. They don’t even have to show who got the money and why. And it goes away, of course, when President Trump is out of office. This is clearly a taxpayer-funded slush fund for one reason: to pay off the people that did his bidding.”

Watch above via CNN.

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