The New York Times’ bombshell report that President Donald Trump is seeking a $230 million payout from the U.S. Department of Justice as compensation for the DOJ’s investigations into him could be even worse than first reported.

According to The New Republic‘s Greg Sargent, in an interview with U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, the payout could be made confidentially — at least at first.

Congressman Raskin — who sees this as a “civic emergency” — and Judiciary Democrats are investigating the Trump demand.

“Our reading is that, even though this is a private settlement, it doesn’t have to be disclosed anywhere until there is an accounting of where all the money has gone at the end of the year,” Raskin told Sargent.

READ MORE: ‘Amateur Historian’ Mike Johnson Hails Trump’s Ballroom as ‘Greatest’ White House Upgrade

But according to Raskin, the “domestic Emoluments Clause says the president may not receive any compensation at all from the U.S. government or the states beyond his official salary.”

“This means he cannot be ordering government officials to write checks to the president.”

“Are we going to have presidents from here on in just shaking down the Department of Justice or other parts of the U.S. government for money to put in their pockets?” Raskin asked.

Trump has acknowledged that ultimately he would likely be the one making the final decision on whether to pay himself the $230 million — although his former personal attorney, Todd Blanche, now the Deputy Attorney General, would be among those also involved in the determination.

Sargent alleges that “for Trump to continue seeking these payments as president is even more wildly corrupt. The conflict-of-interest issues involved in Blanche making this decision are obvious. This is probably unconstitutional, too.”

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He adds, “It’s hard to fathom how bad this is,” and explains that Trump “sought damages from DOJ from the Russia investigation,” and “in 2024, Trump sought damages related to the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago.”

Raskin says he wants the internal communications between Trump and the DOJ, including any with Blanche.

“We want the entire paper trail,” Raskin told Sargent. “We’re looking for any correspondence, memoranda, or records of conversations between the White House and the Department of Justice. If we had subpoena power, we would be going after that.”

Democrats would need the House majority to obtain subpoena power.

“It goes without saying that anybody in the Trump administration who violates the law is now expecting a pardon from Donald Trump,” Raskin told Sargent, while not specifically mentioning Blanche. “If you want the protection of the president, you need to comply with his every wish.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Jeffries Torches Trump’s ‘Out of Control’ Press Secretary

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is praising President Donald Trump’s highly controversial 90,000-square-foot ballroom, which requires demolition of part or most of the East Wing of the White House.

Johnson, who often has boasted of being a constitutional lawyer, says that as an “amateur historian” he thinks the Trump addition is the “greatest” improvement to the White House in history.

“This whole dust up about the White House, just by way of quick review — ’cause I’m an amateur historian — you’ll understand,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. “The White House has been renovated many times over the years, you understand? I mean, it was built between 1792 and 1800, right?”

READ MORE: ‘Travesty’: Trump Reportedly Seeking ‘Bizarre’ $230 Million Payout From DOJ

“The British burned it down, practically, in 1814, and then they rebuilt it in the early 1820s, and ever since, like, we’ve had many presidents, renovate, and add things to the White House,” the Speaker said. “Teddy Roosevelt built the whole West Wing. Um, who was it? FDR, Taft, I think, added the Oval Office. FDR made additions.”

“I mean, Truman put the — ripped everything up to put a bowling alley in. FDR had added the swimming pool, I think. Barack Obama added a basketball court.”

“President Trump’s gonna add the greatest improvement to the White House in the history of the building,” Johnson declared, “since it was originally constructed in 1800. The ballroom is gonna be glorious.”

The Speaker said that if Democrats win back the White House they will “get to use it, too.”

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“This is for the American people, and he’s using private funds to do it,” Johnson added. “How in the world could they oppose that? The only reason, the only logical reason, is because they have Trump Derangement Syndrome, and that’s what explains a lot of this, too.”

Some Democrats and legal experts have raised legal and ethical concerns.

.@SpeakerJohnson: “The White House has been renovated many times…President Trump’s going to add the greatest improvement to the White House in the history of the building…The ballroom is going to be glorious. It’s gonna be used for everybody. And by the way, hey, Democrats,… pic.twitter.com/8eDm5OKZh7

— CSPAN (@cspan) October 22, 2025

READ MORE: Majority Call Trump a ‘Dangerous Dictator’ Leading Nation Off Course: Report

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), the once-loyal MAGA soldier whose recent attacks on her own party have led some to wonder if she is the “New Republican Voice of Sanity,” is out with another thrashing of the GOP, this time on health care.

“More of my Republican colleagues are finally talking about the unaffordable health insurance crisis, but yesterday on our GOP conference call Speaker Johnson said he has ideas and pages of policy, but did not say a single policy plan,” she wrote on Wednesday. “I think that is unacceptable.”

Congresswoman Greene did not reserve her criticism for just Republicans.

READ MORE: Majority Call Trump a ‘Dangerous Dictator’ Leading Nation Off Course: Report

Claiming that “Democrats created this nightmare 15 years ago, then made it worse in 2021 by extending the ACA tax credits that are now expiring,” she declared, “I find it unacceptable that Republicans are sitting on the sidelines doing nothing to fix this healthcare disaster that is leading many Americans into financial ruin.”

Numerous reports say some — and including many of Greene’s fellow Georgia residents — will see Obamacare premiums “more than double” unless Congress reinstates the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Republicans to date have refused to do.

Greene blames Democrats for the expiring subsidies, and alleges that Democrats “are admitting they screwed the whole health insurance system up and they are admitting original Obamacare is now way too expensive.”

Reminding her colleagues that they are the party in power, she called on Republicans “to build the off ramp off of Obamacare in a responsible way, deregulate healthcare and pharmaceuticals and demand price transparency across the board, and incentivize the market in such a way to open up competition which will drive down cost.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Jeffries Torches Trump’s ‘Out of Control’ Press Secretary

“Pick up your bat and ball and get in the game,” she urged, while taking a swipe at MAGA loyalty.

“Our districts voted for us. Our districts sent us to Congress. No one else. No one or any lobby deserves our loyalty and support.”

President Donald Trump, during his first term, promised multiple times he would put out a plan to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. No comprehensive plan ever surfaced. During the 2024 presidential campaign, he said he had the “concepts of a plan.”

Last year in September, KFF reported that “Trump has long talked about making the ACA less expensive, but the question is less expensive for whom. Trump’s past proposals would certainly have made the ACA less expensive for the federal government, but with the trade-off of higher out-of-pocket premiums for people, more uninsured, and higher spending and greater risk for states.”

READ MORE: Not a ‘Gut-Wrenching’ Problem: Ron Johnson Shrugs Off Millions Losing Subsidies

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