Sunday, June 7, 2026

Trump clings to tariff funds, and he might still give J6ers your money

 

Trump clings to tariff funds, and he might still give J6ers your money

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/6/800050851/series/trump-clings-to-tariff-funds-and-he-might-still-give-j6ers-your-money/ 

Trump clings to tariff funds, and he might still give J6ers your money

by Lisa Needham
Staff
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AP (original)

Injustice for All is a weekly series about how the Trump administration is trying to weaponize the justice system—and the people who are fighting back.

86-47 this, beeyotch

The Department of Justice no doubt wants to absolutely howl about this one. U.S District Judge Randolph Moss just handed former FBI director James Comey—intentionally or otherwise—a helping hand in combating the Trump administration’s latest attempt to prosecute him for the crime of President Donald Trump being mad at him.

You’ll recall that this round of criminal charges is based on Comey having snapped a picture of some seashells tastefully arranged to form “86 47.” Normal people know this means “throw Trump out” and was not, as the DOJ has tried to insist, a call to murder the president.

FILE - Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
APFormer FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2018.

Perhaps the DOJ realized that it needed to do some cleanup after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche proudly declared that nope, the DOJ would not be charging people not named James Comey for posting similar things. Kinda sorta sounds like a vindictive and selective prosecution, Todd. You remember, right? How a federal judge tossed your made-up charges against Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia last month for just that very reason?

Anyway, back to Judge Moss.

Earlier this week, Moss granted Accountability Now’s request for a temporary restraining order banning the National Park Service from revoking their demonstration permit. In mid-May, Secret Service officers threatened an Accountability Now volunteer with prosecution over displaying an “8647” flag as part of the permitted demonstration and opened an investigation into her as a “potential threat.” A couple weeks later, the U.S. Park Police sent four cars’ worth of officers to tell the volunteer on duty that “8647” was a threat to take the life of the president and that they had to take the flag down. Moss said the NPS provided “no plausible basis to conclude that a reasonable person, aware of the relevant circumstances, would regard the flag to represent ‘a serious expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to’ the President.”

Moss didn’t buy the administration’s argument that since there have been shootings near the White House, the free speech of “8647” was somehow magically transformed into a true threat against the president.

So weird that a judge wouldn’t accept that totally logical and legal argument, right? Moss’ decision emphasized that the context of the statement matters if you’re going the whole “true threat” route. That’s good news for Comey, as it’s pretty tough to say that snapping a little beachside artwork for the ‘gram counts as a “true threat.”.

Red state attorneys general are f-cking narcs

One of the incredibly few things the Trump administration has done that is not objectively horrifying is change the federal classification of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The change would make it much easier to conduct medical research involving cannabis, and is also seen as a step toward eventual decriminalization or legalization. 

But there are some red state attorneys general who are here to stop even that low-key effort. And their theory of the lawsuit is grimly hilarious. 

In this Jan. 11, 2021 file photo, Indiana's attorney general Todd Rokita speaks, in Indianapolis. Indiana's ban on telemedicine consultations between doctors and women seeking abortions and several other abortion restrictions are back in force after a federal appeals court set aside a judge's ruling that they were unconstitutional on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021. The state's Republican attorney general, Todd Rokita, hailed the appeals court decision.
APIndiana Attorney General Todd Rokita.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita are challenging the rescheduling, saying that the Trump administration’s attempt to skip the typical and lengthy notice and comment period exceeded the authority of the Department of Justice and the DEA. 

We’ve spent nearly 18 months watching Trump do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, with any justification—or lack thereof—he wants, with red states bending the knee all the way. But somehow, for Hilgers and Rokita, this relatively minor rescheduling effort is the bridge too far, and they want the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate the change. Real weird hill to die on, guys. 

DOJ flunkie forgot that the internet remembers everything

As the corrupt insurrectionist slush fund melts away, one high-ranking Department of Justice official seemingly decided it was a terrific idea to head on over to Elon Musk’s online Nazi bar and give the treasonweasels hoping for a payout a little reassurance in response to a question by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. Graham had been mewling about how the government could use existing laws to pay out Trump’s criminal minions, and associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward raced to post, “We’re on it.”

Related | How much evil can Trump’s DOJ manage in a single week?

Perhaps sensing that this might be a bit too openly and obviously corrupt, saying the quiet part loud about how nothing was going to stop Trump from taking your tax dollars to reward treasonists, Woodward deleted the post the next day. Now the DOJ refuses to answer any questions about it, but we know what’s really going on, don’t we? This administration doesn’t care about anything except letting the worst people on earth line their pockets, so it was never going to fully back down here. 

And speaking of the J6ers …

Ever since Trump granted mass pardons to his pet rioters on the very first day of his second term, they’ve really done him proud. Why, how can you not just tear up with pride at how we’ve made America great again by letting these guys run amok and commit additional crimes?

There’s been a steady drip , drip, drip of news about how those folks pardoned by Trump keep getting themselves arrested again on charges ranging from terroristic threats to solicitation of a minor. But thanks to an analysis from Lawfare, we’ve learned that the number of these recividists is far bigger than we’ve thought. 

At least 97 of the over 1,500 J6ers Trump pardoned have gone on to commit new crimes—almost one in 16. At least 14 of those are convictions for sex crimes, including child molestation. There’s also a reckless homicide charge and some assassination threats, because of course there are. 

These are truly the most noble people worthy of the greatest gift of mercy and clemency, huh? 

It’s illegal to not let Trump keep your money

You’re forgiven for wondering what, exactly, this might be in reference to, given that the Trump administration is uniquely adept at misusing taxpayer dollars. Here, we’re talking tariffs.

Last week, Judge Richard Eaton of the Court of International Trade ordered the head of Customs and Border Protection, Rodney Scott, to show up and explain how the government is complying with the Supreme Court’s not-at-all-unclear order to return every last cent it collected under Trump’s first round of illegal tariffs.

The administration has been scrambling to stop this from happening, whining about how it’s totally not fair and extra-illegal to make Scott show up and then ran to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to appeal Eaton’s order requiring complete and universal refunds.

Related | Show us the tariff money, and 35 judges can’t be wrong

The government had been explaining, vaguely, that it was only going to give back $127 billion of the $166 billion collected. Now, it’s explained why and how, and it’s not great.

What the government wants is a court order for each and every importer, forcing them to file individual complaints with the CIT to get their money back. Needless to say, that’s an absurd burden on the importers, and kinda the point. The harder it is to get money back, the bigger the opportunity for the administration to keep dragging its feet. Trump really, really doesn’t want to give the American people their money back. Big surprise.

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All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. The views expressed in comments are those of the individual authors and don't necessarily reflect the views of Daily Kos.

All Comments

  1. Comment by ynohtnA.

    "...give the American people their money back."

    The American people will never see a dime. The large corporations that paid the tariffs and passed the cost on to us, will keep whatever is returned.

    As an aside. A week ago I paid a 35% tariff on goods I ordered from Canada. The tariffs are still with us. No, I don't expect to ever see that money again. But if I get a chance to fill out two dozen forms in triplicate to request its return, I will.

  2. Comment by sfmikey1.

    Trump is doing nothing to ingratiate himself to citizens/taxpayers, that is, voters. The Republican party seems to be dimly aware of this. We'll certainly know more after the midterms. (When Trump will be, literally, a "lame duck," and at the weakest period of his disastrous presidency.)

  3. Comment by oldon.

    The court said NO and gave them until the 12th to challenge Right? Maybe we should call the protest. "No Kings Anymore" How do you stop this!

  4. Comment by Pergola.

    Jail.Trump.Now.

    Is there a strange number code for that?

    ( btw i notice there is no longer a chance to proof your message before posting so i hope that is on the list for dk7 )

    • Reply by DefendOurConstitution.

      We're allowed to edit the comment posted (click on 3 dots to the far right of our name to see edit option and time limit left), but only for 4-5 minutes. We must edit and re-post before that time limit or else our original comment stands.

      [I edited the minutes and reposted, so it says "edited"]

  5. Comment by Ballerina.

    I had a feeling that all the complaints about the insurrectionist thug slush fund coming from Republicans was just optics for the upcoming midterms. Once the midterms are over, the Republicans will be 100% on board with Trump stealing taxpayer money to payoff the insurrectionists. That is why Democrats need to keep pounding on this (as well as the Epstein files) so voters don’t forget. And Democrats need to be especially vigilant to make sure Trump doesn’t try some sneaky way to payoff these right wing thugs, because you know he’ll try. If Democrats win back the House and Senate, the first order of business should be to change the tax code so that ANY payoff to the J6 thugs is federally taxed at 100% in every state, so they can’t move to avoid taxation. Trump would probably veto the bill, but it still lets the public know which party is on their side and which party only cares about lining thugs pockets.

  6. Comment by Jump27.

    The Jan 6th er should get the money that tRump pays in tariffs for Trump goods (T shirts, hats, etc) from China. BTW he has a special agreement that he (individually) pays no tariffs with China for the products manufactured in China for him.

  7. Comment by Dfh1.

    Trump will find a way to give them a payout, not just J6er's, of course, but anyone who was "unfairly" targeted by the government. Because the real reason for this is the expectation that a lot of that money will ultimately end up in the hands of far right groups as well as in the hands of Donald Trump and his family.

  8. Comment by keepiru.

    Thanks, Lisa, for these short but nicely explanatory graphs!

  9. Comment by AdamSelene.

    Re: Tariffs -- "The People" are NOT getting "their money back". SOME Importers [the major ones] MAY get MOST of THEIRS -- someday. And MAYBE as a result of that, they will roll back their prices.

    But then ... a sizable portion of those "People" did not get it that Tariffs are "consumption taxes", and "regressive".

    Even FEWER voters took into account that when US Government WAS funded by taxes on alcohol, tobacco and imported goods ... "government" had few "legitimate functions" besides maintaining a navy, a post office, a patent office, and a mint.

    And that if tariffs *succeeded* in "bringing manufacturing back" ... they themselves, would not want "any child of theirs" to take one of "those jobs." -- b ot under the working conditions, and at the price that manufacturers have historically been willing to provide their production-floor workers.

    • Reply by BarbeCul.

      You are absolutely correct that The People will NOT be getting their money back. Once tariffs are lifted, then FUTURE prices may well drop, due to market pressure. But importers will have ZERO motivation to do anything with any tariff refund cheque except deposit in their bank account.

    • Reply by Throw The Bums Out.

      But importers will have ZERO motivation to do anything with any tariff refund cheque except give it to the CEO (and perhaps other executives) as an extra bonus.

      -Fixed that for you.

  10. Comment by stevetheking.

    Trump may still TRY to give away that $1.8 billion slush fund, but it ain't gonna happen. There's no way those payments will not be tied up in the courts until at least the next administration.

    • Reply by FreeSomeday.

      Because the current President respects all legal court orders!/s

    • Reply by stevetheking.

      The White House doesn't have access to a fund that doesn't exist, otherwise that money would already have been given out. Courts can and absolutely will block dispersal of funds from the Treasury.

    • Reply by Throw The Bums Out.

      With what army will "Courts can and absolutely will block dispersal of funds from the Treasury."?

    • Reply by stevetheking.

      How exactly do you think the White House gives someone money?

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