{"id":163,"date":"2026-06-03T20:41:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=163"},"modified":"2026-06-03T20:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:41:29","slug":"bessent-stays-mum-on-anti-weaponization-fund-at-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanindustryreview.com\/?p=163","title":{"rendered":"Bessent stays mum on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund at hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent repeatedly declined to comment on the IRS\u2019 involvement in a controversial settlement agreement to set up an \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund during testimony before a Senate committee Tuesday, citing ongoing litigation.<\/p>\n

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Bessent, who also oversees the IRS through his post at the Treasury Department, stayed tight-lipped on the settlement, largely deferring to the Justice Department, as Democrats pressed him for details during a Senate Finance Committee hearing focused on President Donald Trump\u2019s fiscal 2027 budget request.<\/p>\n

The testimony came after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday that the Justice Department would not be moving forward with the fund created in the settlement of an unprecedented $10 billion lawsuit that Trump filed against the IRS over his leaked tax returns. But a related order barring the IRS from probes into Trump will remain in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe intend to comply with that direction,\u201d Bessent said early in his testimony. \u201cI do not have any additional details into what that means at this time, but I will note that even with the acting Attorney General Blanche\u2019s statements yesterday, this matter is still subject to ongoing litigation, so I\u2019m unable to comment further on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Democrats sought to get more clarity about the role Bessent and the Treasury Department played in signing off on the settlement. The nearly $1.8 billion Justice Department fund alarmed lawmakers of both parties, with critics calling it a slush fund to reward Trump allies.<\/p>\n

Finance Democrats also repeatedly raised concerns with the aspect of the settlement that the administration isn\u2019t backing away from: a pledge barring the IRS from \u201cexaminations\u201d against Trump, certain members of his family, the Trump Organization and \u201crelated or affiliated individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis immunity deal is the biggest scam against the taxpayer in American history, and Americans are gonna pay taxes, and Trump and his clan won\u2019t,\u201d said Sen. Ron Wyden\u00a0of Oregon, the panel\u2019s top Democrat.<\/p>\n

Democrats drilled in on Bessent\u2019s potential involvement in the settlement talks, with a focus on any push to back the agreement. Bessent declined to comment on whether he was asked, either directly or through his staff, to sign the agreement.<\/p>\n

He was also mum on a reported memo from IRS lawyers outlining defenses against the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n, D-N.M., got in an especially heated discussion with Bessent around his deferrals to the Justice Department. Bessent during his testimony said he and the Treasury Department \u201cdo not have agency\u201d in the lawsuit, instead deferring to the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n was unsatisfied with Bessent\u2019s responses to his line of questioning about his knowledge of the Justice Department\u2019s settlement.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re telling me, as the secretary of U.S. Treasury, you don\u2019t know that the president of the United States, who I think you work for, got a sweetheart deal from the Department of Justice, who\u2019s your lawyer?\u201d Luj\u00e1n said. \u201cYou\u2019re in line for the presidency, Scott.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Democrats walked away from the hearing largely dissatisfied with Bessent\u2019s answers, with limited details on the settlement emerging from the two-plus hours of testimony.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a critically important meeting, and what it has showed is that almost all of the big questions with respect to immunity from audits remain unanswered, and my own view is that we\u2019re going to keep digging into this,\u201d Wyden said. \u201cI know that I\u2019m going to. My own view is that somebody broke the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans, for their part, largely spent the meeting highlighting the rollout of the GOP\u2019s sprawling budget reconciliation law enacted last year. Senate Finance Chairman Michael D. Crapo, R-Idaho, in his opening statement, touted the bill as providing \u201chistoric tax relief for working-class Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other flashpoints<\/h2>\n

Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also pressed Bessent on Trump\u2019s recent announcement that Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte will serve as acting director of national intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard\u2019s planned departure from the post at the end of the month.<\/p>\n

Pulte, a close Trump ally, has referred many of Trump\u2019s political opponents to the Justice Department for allegations of mortgage fraud. Pulte has no intelligence experience, a fact Democrats have seized on as they push back on the appointment and the prospect of a Senate confirmation effort.<\/p>\n

Tensions between Pulte and Bessent made headlines last fall, and Democratic opposition to the selection comes as lawmakers are working to get a bipartisan deal to extend a key government surveillance program across the finish line.<\/p>\n

Bessent, when asked if he was \u201ctotally comfortable\u201d with Pulte\u2019s appointment, said that \u201cmany teams squabble in the locker room and go out on the field,\u201d adding that he spoke with Pulte Tuesday to congratulate him.<\/p>\n

\u201cPulte has had a record of not respecting confidential information. He\u2019s weaponized mortgage information,\u201d Warner said. \u201cI just would have wished that someone in the White House would have gone to the emperor and said, \u2018On this one, you got no clothes, and it\u2019s an embarrassment.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats also asked Bessent about the Treasury Department\u2019s preparations to print $250 bills featuring Trump\u2019s face. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., proposed legislation last year to put Trump\u2019s face on the currency, and Bessent said the department is acting \u201cin coordination with pending legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do things in advance. My predecessors seem to scramble to do things at the last minute,\u201d Bessent said, adding that Treasury would \u201cof course not\u201d move forward with the production of the bills without congressional authorization.<\/p>\n

Read more Congress finds a unifying issue \u2014 geothermal energy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent repeatedly declined to comment on the IRS\u2019 involvement in a controversial settlement agreement to set up an \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund during testimony before a Senate committee Tuesday, citing ongoing litigation. 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