1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

NO PRESIDENT SHOULD PROFIT FROM CONTROL OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH As your constituent, I urge you to speak out against any reported settlement of President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department that would pay him taxpayer funds, cancel audits, or give him personal financial benefit while he is President. This requires oversight because the President oversees the executive branch agencies being sued and officials and lawyers involved in deciding whether to settle. NO PRESIDENT SHOULD SIT ON BOTH SIDES OF A LAWSUIT Unlawful disclosure of confidential tax information is serious and deserves a lawful remedy. But that remedy cannot be a self-dealing settlement negotiated by a President with agencies and lawyers under his authority. The issue is whether a President may use public office to obtain compensation from the public treasury. THE IRS MUST REMAIN INDEPENDENT OF POLITICAL PRESSURE Reports that settlement discussions may include dropping audits of Mr. Trump, his family, or his businesses are alarming. Tax audits must be governed by law, evidence, and regular procedure - not by political pressure or a private settlement that benefits the President. If audits can be traded away, taxpayers will wonder whether there is one tax system for everyone else and another for the President. EMERGENCY HEARINGS ARE REQUIRED BEFORE ANY PAYMENT IS MADE Congress should not wait until after money has changed hands or audits have been compromised. The public deserves immediate answers about who is negotiating, what terms are being considered, and whether any White House official tried to influence Internal Revenue Service enforcement decisions. FEDERAL LAW MUST BAR PRESIDENTIAL SELF-ENRICHMENT No President or Vice President should be able to use control over the executive branch to extract a settlement from the United States while in office. Congress should support H.R. 8309 and S. 4299, the Ban Presidential Plunder of Taxpayer Funds Act. Further, the legislation should be strengthened to bar audit concessions, indirect payments, and settlements without independent review. This is a basic anti-corruption principle: no person should sit on both sides of a lawsuit, control the defense lawyers, and receive public money or enforcement concessions. I urge you to take these actions: (1) Publicly oppose any settlement that pays President Trump, his family, or his businesses taxpayer funds or gives them audit-related benefits. (2) Demand emergency hearings with the Attorney General, Treasury Secretary, Internal Revenue Service officials, ethics officials, and any White House personnel involved. (3) Support and strengthen H.R. 8309 and S. 4299 to prohibit Presidents and Vice Presidents, their families, controlled entities, and related trusts from receiving damages or settlement payments from the United States. Thank you.