Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro isn’t convinced by President Donald Trump’s latest justification for taking hundreds of millions from the U.S. Department of Justice.
On Friday, Shapiro cautioned that Trump’s push to tap federal funds for personal compensation could result in a “massive number of lawsuits or even an impeachment in the House.”
The former president is demanding a $230 million payout, claiming he is owed the money as reimbursement for the federal investigations into his campaign and businesses over the past decade. Trump has been the subject of multiple probes, including a DOJ investigation into potential Russian interference in his 2016 campaign, his role in the Capitol riot, and his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office.
Speaking to NewsNation on Friday, Shapiro said Trump’s request was “rife with conflicts of interest.”
Although the conservative host made clear that he wasn’t turning on Trump, he noted he was “incredibly sympathetic” to the former president and his family for being “targeted by law enforcement,” but questioned the wisdom of Trump’s approach.
The right-wing podcaster wasn’t alone in criticizing Trump’s plan. Scott Jennings, a frequent CNN contributor and Republican strategist known for defending Trump, told Mediaite on Tuesday that the former president should consider waiting until after his term to pursue any damages.
Meanwhile, Senator Thom Tillis told CNN on Wednesday that Trump’s plan came at a particularly bad time, given the ongoing government shutdown and the strain it has placed on federal operations and payments.
“It’s terrible optics, particularly right now,” he said. “We’re talking about a quarter of a billion dollars transferring, maybe to the President when we’re in a shutdown posture.”
Trump, however, insisted that if he received the $230 million, he would “do something nice” with the money.
“[I]f I get money from our country, I’ll do something nice with it, like give it to charity or give it to the White House, where we restore the White House,” Trump told a reporter on Tuesday.
The president’s construction projects have already sparked controversy this week after he approved the demolition of the East Wing of the White House — a 123-year-old structure first built during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and rebuilt under Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940s.
Trump reportedly ordered the demolition to make room for a $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
