The U.S. Gets a Taste of Corruption || May 20, 2026
Trump is no stranger to helping out his cronies, but this new settlement that creates a $1.8 billion fund to compensate conservatives allegedly targeted by past Justice Department actions is a bit on the nose, even for him.
This slush fund is a reminder of the legal and regulatory erosion that the Trump administration is responsible for. The rule-of-law system that has supported the U.S. economy and government is now on some very shaky ground.
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Comments (82)
I suspect Trump's mentor speaks Russian as a native language.
Your perspective is off! Too bad
According to... what?
Trump has been corrupt his entire life. It may have been highlighted with his 2020 election denial but give me a break. 34 convictions for fraud, no sentence ! Under Trump the "rule of law" is absent and replaced with Trumps "rule of vengence". America has had its head up its ass for much too long. America's president is little more than a giant slug with a potato for a brain.
read between the lines: Orange Man wants allies for his 3rd and final, unlimited term
I cry with you, Peter
you call domestic terrorists "conservatives", neat!
delusional! you've become hyper corrupted when you allowed your judges and SC judges to be "politically affiliated" and be nominated by the political leaders. everything else is just dominos from there.
I like most of PZ videos but it’s obvious he has P-TDS and always has a slant.
TDS went from being lefties screeching nonsense to make him look bad to conservatives desperately spinning- trying to make him look good... (So far every MAGA I've engaged, without exception, has blocked me for asking the real questions and demanding verifiable proof instead of talking points.)
Wordsworth... Although I understood the logical argument to Bidens loan forgiveness program, I never agreed with it. I figure if you got loans to get an education then you ought to be responsible enough to pay them off. That being said, the Supreme Court eventually struck down the program. So the system (sort of) worked the way it was supposed to. In the case of Trumps 1776 slush fund, trump and blanche picked the amount. The plan is to hand it out to convicted criminals and Trump supporters with no congressional oversight or even public record of who is getting the money. So no accountability. The part I find distressing is that there are MAGA folks out there who truly believe that the Jan6 rioters were wrongfully prosecuted and are deserving of some compensation. And that is one of the many reasons I fear the countries moral compass is fatality broken.
I wanna see the fine print, qualifications, etc... And then I'd say that many more people should indeed be compensated, the more than 405,000 people who's tax information was publicly breached along with the Trump's for instance, and then ask yourself, has the Federal Govt. damaged you , since '16, boy howdy, ongoin'... So, I say file a Claim, bury 'em and get the awards down to about a buck... Then we'll claw it back in 2030...
Kind of like President Obama's reparations for indigenous people? "These most recent settlements are part of a much longer effort to address tribal lawsuits by the government. In 2009, the government settled what turned out to be an epic, 13-year-long class-action lawsuit, paying $3.4 billion to Native American plaintiffs claiming the 1887 Dawes Act and other actions cheated them out of decades of income. Since then, besides the 17 recent cases, the Obama administration has settled lawsuits from 95 native groups. McCoy says 11 cases are still pending. So far, the government has paid $1.9 billion to resolve those cases. In a break from a century of policy, the government will pay the settlements directly to the tribal governments to spend as they please, instead of holding the cash in trust, which was customary in the past. Earlier this week at the annual Tribal Nations Conference, President Obama urged native leaders to keep pushing for visibility and a voice with whatever administration succeeds his, Valerie Volcovici and Julia Harte at Reuters. “Settling these long-standing disputes reflects the Obama Administration’s continued commitment to reconciliation and empowerment for Indian Country,” Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell says in the press release. “As we turn the page on past challenges in our government-to-government relationship with tribes, we’re moving forward with tribal governments to ensure proper management of tribal trust assets.” " Smithsonian Magazine Sept. 2016.
We are now below the standard of the fourth-world banana republics.
LegalEagle (attorney Devin J. Stone) details just how bad this is. Very, _very_ bad. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIBCjzz-bmk The palpable anger is _not_ characteristic of Stone, i.e., he's not an Internet outrage-farmer.
Did Trump kidnap Maduro to exploit his corruption experience?
It’s unusual for sure. But the settlement was based upon real crimes committed by swamp rats at the IRS that leaked his information to the press. I suppose Trump could have insisted he personally receive settlement funds, but instead set up a fund for people wrongly targeted by the government. I dint see the big deal. It’s to be administered by an independent commission with rules regarding use of funds. This seems pretty minor in comparison to the USAid money laundering machine. Peter could show his political independence by doing a story on how USAid delivers money to fake NGOs who launder it overseas and in turn contribute heavy money to Democratic party apparatchiks. 🤷🏻♂️
And he will get away with it. This is no longer the country I had put a uniform on for in my youth. I wouldn't today.
This is second time in Italy. What’s brewing?
" GitHub AI sabotage tool" used by Chinese young people. Is this true? source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iUZTCjVykE
Charles Rutledge: GitHub had enough consecutive uptime to be used for freelance sabotage of the PRC? Amazing. (Seriously, though, thank you for the interesting link.)
It's breath taking how quickly the US has changed from game keeper to poacher. No wonder most people are walking around thinking that life is business as usual.
The bigger problem is a government designed so idiotically that this is even possible.
Funny I don't recall you going off on the Biden administration Fanny Willis, all the people in New York snf Georgia who prosecuted Trump all those years. Don't recall you going off about that! Seems like maybe you have a short memory or Dem bias. Oh by the way turnabout is fair play! Your side set the tone! This Yank is tired of being nice; cuts time is over.
Re: Draining the swamp… Trump is now feeding the alligators!
Hi Peter, What is your view about the Pentagon stepping away from U.S. -Canadian military board? Does this increase sovereignty risk to Canada is any significant way or is merely more posturing from Trump synophants? What does this mean for relations between the two countries in the short to mid term? Thanks. -A
Make sure you pay your taxes on time. The IRS needs them badly... ohh and no cheating on your taxes, or you're going to jail.
Christ, Obama invented “sue and settle”.
I must have missed your piece regarding Biden holding up a $1B aid package to Ukraine, one tfinanced by US tax dollars and one that he knew would never be paid back, until his son received $80K monthly from Ukraine's state run energy company, Barisma., for doping nothing. And as deplorable as Jan 6th was, holding useful idiots in solitary confinement until confessions (pleas deals) were extracted, is something one hears about Nazi Germany, the Saddam' regime, and Mao's great reset on the 70's. Isolation in a cell for months and months is torture.
The gov't then had masked men kidnapping people on the streets with no warrants and then killed the odd US citizen for good measure.
Wasn't surprised that Trump endorsed Ken Paxton for Senate here in Texas. Corrupt recognizes corrupt.
Trump has basically normalized corruption in the United States. They're not even hiding it, its open, brazen and the entire world can see it.
The problem is the rest of the world sees the Americans allowed and supported this administration to entrench itself in a second term. The issue is well beyond The President. And the world is responding accordingly. That’s bad for business, in every sense. Even with him gone, the die is cast. Living abroad, people have stopped asking what’s happening in the US, to making plans to mitigate against risk. The instability will continue beyond 2028.
Erm Henry Yesler of Seattle fame did similar. He would sue the city over tax demands then as Mayor settle out of court. Several times in fact. This is nothing new, but the scale is breathtaking.
Not only the 1.8 billion slush fund but also “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting or pursuing” pending tax claims against Mr. Trump, his family members and businesses".
Have you ever been targeted by the IRS? Recently, I became a target through a mistake made by the IRS. It eventually worked out, and the IRS realized their mistake without so much as offering an apology. Prior to that, they issued threats of seizing my assets. The experience gave me an interesting insight into our government. I was given none of the protections of "due process" afforded us by the Fifth & Fourteenth Amendments. The IRS insisted I was guilty unless I could prove my innocence. To make matters worse, the burden of proof was ridiculous - I was required not just to show them an invoice marked "paid in full" but also to provide proof of where I got the funds to pay the invoice. Then I had to somehow prove that no one gifted me the funds to pay the invoice. How do you even do that?? Put yourself in my shoes, and you'll realize just how much "freedom" you actually have as a US citizen and tax payer.
Blatant theft. As my mom says, "He has no shame." The steward of our country lies, associates with and supports corrupt regimes, and steals from us, AND 30% of Americans support this? They are all tools.
An implicit green light to the proud boys et al? 🤔
100%. He needs them for 2028.
A taste of corruption? 🤡 bought and ate the whole buffet!
Can someone give some examples on how US companies are being encouraged to not follow the law? Which laws are we talking about?
I wish it were just a “taste” of corruption. Instead it feels like backhoe amounts being shoved down my throat on a daily basis.
We are so far past fucked it would take the light from fucked years to reach us.
And yet Trump supporters will find some excuse just as they found an excuse for all the Epstein evidence and how they found an excuse to ignore January 6. I can already hear it now, well Hunter Biden got a few hundred thousand dollars from a gas company and he had a massive penis… Therefore Trump is entitled to give his cronies over 1.7 billion tax dollars.
Not an excuse, just a deflection....but Biden did...or what about what Obama did???
Peter, your hatred of Trump and any conservative is starting to go way beyond any analysis. I enjoyed your book, and your thoughts on why nations do what they do, but now this podcast is turning into a commercial for Democrats. Under Biden the Dems went after Trump and any ally he had. The FBI, CIA and Justice colluded to ruin a political opponent. Yes, Trump can be a self-promoting boar who picks fights with people he doesn't have to, but he was ELECTED. We are heading down a slippery slope if every future President has to deal with career bureaucrats who intentionally sabotage any policy they don't like.
Please leave your TDS at the door when visiting this site. None of us appreciate it; none of us like it. Thank you.
Check out what Trump had the DOJ do to prevent any possible prosecution of him or his family during or after his term in office.
You're late to the party Peter. Under Obama Keepsegal $680 million to Native American Farmers and $1.2 billion under Pigford II for BLM rioters.
$680 million to Native American Farmers compared to the billions upon billions to white American farmers after they stole native lands. $1.2 billion to BLM after the wealth created by free labor for 246 years. Time to sit down and study real American history.
Here's the problem Peter. While you are absolutely right that this is brazenly corrupt and outrageous, in my mind it pales when compared for example to Biden attempting to hand out some 400bn of taxpayer money to pay off the student loans of people whose votes he was brazenly buying. 400bn is a lot more than 1.8bn and for Biden that was the tip of the iceberg. He handed out many more hundreds of billions in vote buying giveaways and attempted even more before being stopped. Now of course Biden being completely corrupt on a much larger scale than Trump doesn't make what Trump is doing ok. Not to me and not at all. But I am pointing this out because the fact that you harp every day on Trump when Biden did so much more harm makes your daily videos feel like the "I hate Trump" show. And while I appreciate your informative work, the "I hate Trump" show is just less entertaining and much less informative than your old show. The $1.8bn story is a domestic issue that has been widely covered in the press so for many of us this isn't really informative in the way much of your stuff in the past was. I know I have now invited that portion of your audience that leans left to spam my inbox with hate responses (feel free but know I won't respond) but I am not writing this because I am a huge fan of Trump. I see his obvious faults as much as anyone. But your show isn't as interesting as it used to be before you started to focus so much on Trump. I'm sure I'm not the only one that would be grateful if you got back to broader geopolitics as that was so interesting, and no one does it so entertainingly as you.
Excellent points. Being in here and especially the premium option is what I would imagine some liberal think tank is like. So interesting to watch from the inside. 👀🍿 of course when I’m not watching WWE.
The depth of the blatant corruption in the United States is stunning. You have openly lost so much credibility and trust in the world I’m starting to fear for us all and what our future holds.
Rule of Law! Humm What the FBI and DOJ and the Dems did in Russia Gate is a good example. You get what you sow. lol
So then it's all justified in your opinion? What about. What about, what about. Scholl yard logic.
Quality Learing Centers Autisim Centers This is small peanuts compared to what the Samolis did in Minnesota and what the Russian mafia is doing in California. Study the work of Nick Shurley before you start clutching your pearls
Nice whataboutism there, and no it doesn't come close
Now will America finally be great again?
Is there anyway to come back from this? Can any of the crap he’s doing be fixed?
We can only hope. But I'm worried about how far the backlash will go.
Yeah, but what about Obama? And Hunter’s laptop … ? - on the serious note . I thought Epstein story is truly the only thing that everybody from right to left would agree on needs a resolution. Needs a public reckoning. And yet, I see Thomas Massie lost yesterday to someone potus handpicked. Meaning people don’t care as I thought they would . Which makes me think - we own all of this, and whatever happens to us and still about to happen, is all on us. The People.
Exactly. Although I'll hold my depression for the general election and not the primary. Moderates need to get out and vote.
Has there ever been a more embarrassing collapse of democracy in history? And to think it’s a demented clown like Trump that Americans are just watching tear the place down.
American's voted for him. When the voter base prioritizes doom scrolling and WWE over progress in the world, this is what you get.
The man who was going to "drain the swamp"...
He drained it… into his bank account
And they laugh at us on the way to the bank. Very sick bunch of people...
Seems there is a natural tendency for democracy to be corrupted and for corrupt people to be attracted to the system. Trump is an especially brazen gamer because, apparently, he has no moral or ethical compass. In turn, his fellow schemers see the opportunities available and are joining the game. The list of scandals is growing daily. This is but one. Doesn't make it right, that's not my point. My point is, Trump is showing us the future of American democracy.
Democracy or unregulated capitalism? Either way, a democracy with a poorly educated voter base who has more interest in WWE and reality TV than pragmatism is a recipe for corruption.
Very obvious bias. What about the actual people that were damaged by the Obama/Biden lawfare
Very obvious tu quoque, I.e. whataboutism
it wasn’t the justice system from trumps first term, it was Bidens justice system that targeted not only republicans but others as well. A quick google search will confirm this. But Why let the truth get in the way of a good political narrative.
So you really trust a quick google search anymore?
I don’t worry about shit like this long term. This is something Trump can get away with because Dems are so weak and incompetent and Republicans are still under Trumps control.
Complete lack of discernment, and any knowledge of history, politics.
Would it be possible to reverse some of these decisions later on?
Really hoping its possible to put Trump, his family and all of his hand picked officers in prison for a very long time, later on.
So, in other words, “The Trumps” are the “Sixth Family” of New York. “Nice Constitution, yous got, here. Shame if anything *happened* to it…” (Cue evil grin…)😈
Do you mean “The Sith Family?”
It’s too bad there isn’t like an opposing party in the United States that could draw attention to this and use it to generate momentum to get institutional change in an upcoming election. Also… so… are we ever gonna get them government Tomans for not violently protesting in the street? I’ve been patiently not protesting in the street for a while now, STILL NO TOMANS. I thought that was on page 3 of Zappos Beeblebrox’s “Money, More Money and some more Money and how to Win at Democracy.”
Yeah, US is fked, no other party can get the power, only dems and reps.
Amaze, amaze, amaze.