Stephen Colbert ripped into the Trump administration for its $1.776 billion slush fund—or, as Colbert puts it, an “all-you-can-fraud buffet.”
Colbert, 61, blasted the president and the administration on Tuesday night, his third-to-last episode of The Late Show.
“We may be canceled, but apparently, The Late Show has outlived the Constitution of the United States, because yesterday, without any congressional or court approval, completely unilaterally, Donald Trump gave himself a $1.8 billion taxpayer-fueled slush fund,” began Colbert.
The late-night host explained that the slush fund emerged after Trump and his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, sued the IRS and the Treasury Department in January.
The Trump family demanded at least $10 billion over the leak of the president’s tax returns. On Monday, the administration and the DOJ reached a settlement, which includes, in part, the DOJ establishing a nearly $2 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
“So to get around the court’s oversight, yesterday, Trump’s lawyers and Trump’s DOJ—him on both sides—agreed to drop the case and set up this slush fund,” Colbert continued.
“Who exactly is this fund slushing? Well, one group of lucky slushies could be people prosecuted in connection with the January 6 Capitol riot. That means people who stormed the Capitol, rubbed their poop on the walls, assaulted police officers, and tried to hang Vice President Mike Pence could be getting this cash,” he added, “But they won’t ‘cause Trump’s going to steal it all.”
The fund, announced this week, was designed to support Trump allies and compensate “victims” of the Biden administration. These claimants can remain anonymous, as can the amount they receive.
The 79-year-old president announced that those who were “treated brutally” during Biden’s term will be “reimbursed for their legal fees and the other things that they had to suffer.”
Colbert went on, reading from the agreement’s terms: “Once the funds are deposited into the designated account, the United States has no liability whatsoever for the protection or safeguarding of those funds, regardless of bank failure, fraudulent transfers, or any other fraud or misuse of the funds.”
“So, it’s just an all-you-can-fraud buffet,” he quipped in response. “It’s an unprecedented level of grift.”
“This settlement is just some piece of paper they printed out,” said Colbert, “Saying that Trump can do anything he wants with a bunch of your money.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
