Trump’s IRS suit may end with a $1.7 billion compensation fund

US officials have discussed creating a $1.7 billion federal fund to pay victims of so-called government weaponization to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Million-dollar payouts the administration has already made to some of his supporters provide a roadmap for where the money might go. The settlement talks have taken place ahead of a key deadline next week in Trump’s $10 billion suit seeking to hold the IRS liable for the 2019 leak of his tax information, according to people familiar with the discussions. One of the people, who asked not to be identified as the conversations were private, said officials are considering the fund option as well as possibly dropping audits into the president, his family and his businesses. ABC News earlier reported the fund possibility. No decisions have been made about the fund’s size. It would be open for claims regardless of a claimant’s political party, but details of how disbursements would be approved are still being negotiated. Even if Trump doesn’t get a payout, any funding arrangement is likely to raise questions about whether the president and other US officials are improperly using taxpayer dollars to settle personal and political scores. Trump and his allies have often claimed the federal government under former President Joe Biden “weaponized” enforcement of the law, targeting conservatives for their political affiliation. Already, under Trump, the government has reversed its positions in court cases involving some of his allies and supporters. Two people who sued over the 2016 election-interference probe that Trump labeled a “witch hunt” received $1.25 million payments. Hundreds of supporters charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol – and later granted clemency by Trump – are seeking monetary damages. A former Trump White House lawyer is suing for compensation over alleged privacy violations during a congressional inquiry into the 2020 election. And