Report: Trump Wants DOJ to Pay Him $230M

President Trump has filed claims seeking about $230 million from the Justice Department for damages related to federal investigations into his actions, the New York Times reports, citing "people familiar with the matter." The claims, filed through an administrative process that often precedes lawsuits, allege violations of his rights stemming from probes into Russian election interference and the search of Mar-a-Lago for classified documents, according to the Times' sources. Trump contends these actions amounted to malicious prosecution and an invasion of privacy, and insists they forced him to spend tens of millions defending himself.

The situation is uncharted territory for the US government: a sitting president is asking to be compensated by the very agency he now oversees, the Times notes. The process is further complicated by the fact that senior Justice officials who are now responsible for reviewing the claims previously served as Trump's lawyers or represented his associates. Ethics experts says the scenario obvious conflict of interest. "What a travesty," Pace University ethics professor Bennett L. Gershman tells the Times. "The ethical conflict is just so basic and fundamental, you don't need a law professor to explain it."

"And then to have people in the Justice Department decide whether his claim should be successful or not, and these are the people who serve him deciding whether he wins or loses," Gershman says. "It's bizarre and almost too outlandish to believe." Trump himself appeared to acknowledge the awkwardness in remarks in the Oval Office last week, joking that as president he's now "sort of suing myself."

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Any settlement over $4 million would require sign-off by the deputy attorney general or the head of the department's civil division—both of whom have close ties to Trump or his allies. Deputy AG Todd Blanche is Trump's former personal lawyer and Stanley Woodward Jr., chief of the civil division, has represented numerous Trump aides. The Justice Department says it follows guidance from career ethics officials, but the department's top ethics adviser was fired last July. If a settlement is reached, taxpayer funds would likely cover the payout, and the public may not receive immediate notice, the Times notes.