Sarah Longwell, JVL, and Martha Raddatz: Trump Is Looting Us in Broad Daylight

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Trump Is Looting Us in Broad Daylight"

Podcast: The Bulwark
Episode Date: May 19, 2026
Host: Tim Miller
Guests: Sarah Longwell, JVL
Segment One Focus: Emergent reaction to Trump’s $1.8 billion “slush fund” for January 6 insurrectionists and its unprecedented corruption

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Main Theme & Episode Overview

This episode opens with Tim Miller, joined by Sarah Longwell and JVL, in an emergency roundtable reacting to the recently revealed “slush fund”—a $1.8 billion pool described as reparations for MAGA insurrectionists. The hosts break down how the fund is not just compensation but an alarming precedent for incentivizing further anti-democratic acts, all enabled through unprecedented legal maneuvering. The mood is one of incredulity and rising outrage, with a focus on the corrupt implications and the silence of Republican lawmakers.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Nature of the $1.8 Billion “Slush Fund”

• The fund is characterized by Tim as “reparations for MAGA insurrectionists,” using taxpayer dollars to reward those who broke the law during the January 6 attack ([00:41]).
• Sarah Longwell points out:

  “This is the most corrupt thing we've ever seen a president to do.” ([01:27])

• JVL and Sarah argue it’s not just backward-looking: it’s meant to incentivize future lawbreaking for Trump, functioning as both a pardon and a payout.

2. The Dangerous Precedent and Incentivization

• Sarah expands:

  “By pardoning the January six insurrectionists and then giving them remuneration, he's also creating an incentive that says, you do bad things for me, you break the law for me, you know what I'll do for you? I'll pardon you and I'll pay you.” ([01:56])

• JVL envisions future scenarios where corrupt actors are even more emboldened:

  “Imagine how that phone call goes if he says, don't sign your name and you get a million dollars...its decisions are all in secret. Nobody can ever see that.” ([02:39])

3. Lack of Transparency and Oversight

• The group highlights the fund’s secrecy: there’s no Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) access, and the fund sunsets at the end of Trump’s term, beyond the reach of future accountability ([03:28], [03:44]).

4. Corruption and Bribery, Legalized

• JVL frames the entire scheme as “legalized fraud”:

  “...when you're bribing people out of your own pocket, that is illegal. That is fraud. This is legalized fraud... it takes what otherwise might be illegal behavior, and it blesses it under the law. He's an innovator.” ([06:42])

• They compare this to historic outrage over modest bail funds for leftist protesters, highlighting the hypocrisy at play ([07:54]).

5. Immunity for Trump and Family

• Sarah brings up another “astonishing” element: permanent IRS immunity for Trump and his family, unrelated to the original legal pretext ([04:55]):

  “They are buying themselves immunity going forward... if the problem is that you had a contractor who leaked your tax returns... the idea that then also you get immunity from prosecution... for you and your family... doesn't follow.”

6. Scale and Leverage of the Fund

• Tim tries to quantify:

  “1.8 billion is 1800 million... they can basically go out and find 2,000 people and bribe them with a million dollars, or 18,000 people and bribe them with $100,000.” ([06:10], [06:20])

• The consensus: the sheer scale is “challenging to even wrap your heads around.”

7. Process and Precedent (or Lack Thereof)

• JVL lambastes the process:

  “Donald Trump, as a private citizen, filed a lawsuit against the government that he heads, and then, while sitting on either side of the table, does a totally unaccountable settlement with himself in which he abrogates $1.8 billion... for his own purposes.” ([09:13])

• Sarah underscores the unprecedented lack of judicial oversight:

  “In these other settlements, they were done... adjudicated by courts. Like, whatever you think about them, there was like, a process that was not the person sitting on both sides.” ([09:59])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Sarah Longwell (01:27):
  “This is the most corrupt thing we've ever seen a president to do.”
• Sarah Longwell (01:56):
  “Pardon and payment. That's what he gives to people who break the law.”
• JVL (02:39):
  “Imagine how that phone call goes if he says, don't sign your name and you get a million dollars...you don't even have to know accountability.”
• Sarah Longwell (04:55):
  “They are buying themselves immunity going forward... the level of corruption here is staggering and in plain sight.”
• JVL (06:42):
  “This is legalized fraud... it takes what otherwise might be illegal behavior, and it blesses it under the law.”
• Tim Miller (06:10-06:20):
  “You can find… 2,000 people and bribe them with a million dollars or 18,000 people and bribe them with $100,000… the scale of this, it's really kind of challenging to wrap your heads around.”
• JVL (09:13):
  “Donald Trump… does a totally unaccountable settlement with himself… abrogates $1.8 billion of the government's money for his own purposes.”
• Sarah Longwell (09:59):
  “In these other settlements… there was like, a process that was not the person sitting on both sides.”

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:41 – Introduction to and framing of the “slush fund” as reparations for insurrectionists
• 01:27 – Sarah’s reaction: “most corrupt thing we’ve ever seen”
• 01:56 – Deep dive on incentivization: “pardon and payment”
• 02:39 – JVL’s hypothetical: future bribes and no accountability
• 03:28-03:44 – Logistical details: no FOIA, the fund “sunsets,” full lack of recourse
• 04:55 – Permanent IRS immunity for Trump and family
• 06:10-06:20 – Quantifying the fund’s scale
• 06:42 – Comparative analysis: “legalized fraud”
• 07:54 – Comparison to Kamala Harris bail fund outrage
• 09:13 – JVL on the unprecedented settlement process
• 09:59 – Sarah: Judicial process (or lack thereof) in prior settlements

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Tone and Language

The tone throughout is deeply urgent, skeptical, and laced with incredulity at both the scale and brazenness of the corruption. The hosts blend factual analysis, pointed analogies, and expletive-laden outrage. Their central message: this situation is “off the fucking charts” and cannot be normalized or ignored.

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In Summary

This episode of The Bulwark sounds the alarm, portraying Trump’s “slush fund” as both a retroactive payout for anti-democratic violence and a forward-looking tool for corruption. It’s described as “legalized fraud” and “the most corrupt thing we’ve ever seen a president do.” Above all, the hosts stress the scale, secrecy, lack of accountability, and dangerous precedent—underscored by the deafening silence (and occasional deflection) from the Republican establishment.

For listeners, this episode offers both a primer and a call to arms: understand what's at stake, and don’t let normalization set in.

Transcript

[A]

Hello and welcome to the Bulwark Podcast. I'm your host, Tim Miller. We have a doubleheader for you today in segment two. Martha Raditz of ABC News will be with us. She's got a new book out. We're going to talk some foreign policy stuff, but I had too much rage to just have Martha on today. So we have an emergency segment A with the TNL gang because we don't have TNL this week, and we already did one emergency tnl, but we're doing a second one because we love each other and we have too much anger in our hearts to just go a full week.

[B]

I finally feel like you see me.

[A]

Yeah. So anyway, it's Sarah Longwell, jvl. I wanted to talk in particular about the slush fund because I feel like each day I get more mad about it. And it's one of those things that was so preposterous and ridiculous that I think that at some level I was blocking my heart and my blood pressure from achieving the levels that they should have achieved. And I started thinking about it today reading Andrew Egger's Morning Shots, which is very good. And I want to posit this. What he's done basically, is a $1.8 billion package that is reparations for MAGA insurrectionists. That's what this is our money that they're taking. So what are your reactions to that notion?

[C]

Okay, so it's not just reparations. This is the thing that I am really hung up on about this, but I agree with you. I get angrier about this by the minute. And I was angry. I was furious about it to start. This is the most corrupt thing we've ever seen a president to do. And all these people on the right right now, especially at the nro, right, who are trying to tell us that somehow this is normal or this like we've seen other presidents do this. This isn't unprecedented.

[A]

That is, it's like the settlement with the Native Americans. It's any different than the settlement with

[B]

the Indians border horizon stuff, you know?

[C]

No. And look, if you want to go deep on this, Andrew Weissman and I do it on illegal news. And he has like a tremendous breakdown of this. So go listen to that. But here's the thing that's got me really torqued. One is to say that it's reparations, is to say that it's backward looking. Okay? But it's not just backward looking. This is about not only paying people off. Right. It's about incentivizing them for future payoffs as long as they do what Trump wants them to write. Like Trump has concocted by. By pardoning the January six insurrectionists and then giving them remuneration, he's also creating an incentive that says, you do bad things for me, you break the law for me, you know what I'll do for you? I'll pardon you and I'll pay you. Pardon and payment. That's what he gives to people who break the law.

[B]

So that's what I'm. I'm freaked out about. So back in 2020, guys may remember this. The President, United States called up the Wayne County Board of Canvassers in, in Michigan. The board of canvassers are anonymous people who. Nobody has any idea who these people are, but not. He was like, you know, can you just, just don't certify the results in your county? That's all you have to change anything. You just have to not sign your name. Now they. They sign their names, and God bless them for that. Imagine how that phone call goes if he says, don't sign your name and you get a million dollars. Because I've got this secret fund who. And by the way, its decisions are all in secret. Nobody can ever see that. So you don't even have to know accountability.

[A]

This was the thing in Eggersing that I hadn't sunk in with me this morning. It's like, now the money's out the door, now it's gone, right? So there is no, like, legal opportunity for clawing it back. It's like, now this fund has the money and they get to disperse it to whoever they want. And we don't know. There's no foia.

[B]

The single best part of this is that the fund sunsets at the end of Trump's term. Like, that's amazing to me, right?

[C]

So Comey, Comey can't use it. Letitia James can't use it. For. For Trump weaponizing his administration against people. It is only for people who say they were weaponized against Biden. I don't know if you saw this, but someone like Molly Hemingway, right, is out there. Like, now there's also these people who are out there being like, yeah, I was done dirty by the Biden administration, right? They were all going to apply for money, and it's just a way to hand this stuff out to people they like, and particularly people who will carry their water and do their crimes.

[B]

And. And it's a point of leverage over people once they have applied. Because once you have asked the Trump people to give you money. They can then say, well, let's see, right? Let's, let's see what you can do for me. You know, we're, we're considering your application. Let's see what you can do for us. For us, right? I mean, the levels of corruption here are off the fucking charts here.

[C]

I'll give you another one. So also, as part of this deal, is that the IRS is never allowed to go after Donald Trump or his family members again. They are buying themselves immunity going forward, which, by the way, life. Can we just say how much that doesn't track. Like, if the problem is that you had a contractor who leaked your tax returns, the idea that what you get as remuneration for that, first of all, the idea that it was 10 billion, the idea that it's this $1.7 billion slush fund, none of that. But the idea that then also you get immunity from prosecution in business matters for the IRS in perpetuity for you and your family is, doesn't follow. Like, that's not a thing that you get. This is, the level of corruption here is staggering and in plain sight. And I think that the silence on the part of Republicans, like, go ask every Republican in Congress media, if you're listening, Manu, if you're listening, every member of Congress should be asked about this. And if they do, like the John Thune, it's not my favorite, don't love it. These guys should not be able to get away from this. This should be the kind of thing that makes people go, go berserk.

[A]

I know Sarah doesn't love doing fast math. So I'm going to do this for 1.8 billion is 1800 million.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

So like, you can find, they basically can go out and find 2,000 people and bribe them with a million dollars or 18,000 people and bribe them with $100,000. The type of leverage for bribes, like, the scale of this, it's like, really kind of challenging to wrap your heads around, like, how much raw money it is.

[B]

And here's the. So I think some people would say, oh, well, how is. It's no different because, you know, if Trump was going to bribe people, he could have done it out of his own pocket. Right? That's not true. Because when you're bribing people out of your own pocket, that is illegal. That is fraud. This is legalized fraud. So in the same way that the, the, the, his, his defamation suits against ABC and CBS were basically legalized bribery. Right? It would have been, it would have been Illegal for him to come to them outside of a court of law and say, I demand that you pay me because that. That otherwise I'll be mean to you. That's extortion. But if you do it under the COVID of a lawsuit, and then the two of you sign a private contract which says, we will pay you, please be. Please be nice to us. That's perfectly legal. And so that's what this fund does. It takes what otherwise might be illegal behavior, and it blesses it under the law. He's an innovator. I keep saying this. The guy is an absolute innovator. These are things which nobody ever contemplated, and he has brought them.

[A]

I was talking with Kathy Young about this. Like, we were tweeting at each other about it. It's like, think about the outrage that there was at Kamala Harris when she posted the link on her social media feed to the bail fund for protesters. And I believe. I think it was Kenosha. I'm going from memory, it might have been. It might have Minneapolis. I think it was Minneapolis, actually. And there's some outrage because, like, some of those protesters who accessed the bail fund had done, you know, some petty crime, right? Or like. Or maybe had broken into a building or something, which is. Which is not appropriate. Right. But what she had done was like, just post like, this is a GoFundMe basically, so other people can go contribute to this. And like, you know, a leader, a political leader shouldn't do that, you know, shouldn't be incentivizing like, this type of behavior. Like, the other side of this. A lot of that money went to actual protesters who were, like, wrongly gone after by the government. But anyway, that's neither here nor there. That's what she did. Like, this is. This is as if they. That Joe Biden had decided to take $1.8 billion of. Of tax money and giving it to the Kenosha rioters. And like, that's what. That is what they're doing now. Like, they were outraged that there was just even a notion that other people could privately, like, raise GoFundMe for people who had been put in jail so they could have a defense fund. Like, this is a handout to rioters.

[B]

I want to emphasize the corrupt nature of the process by which we got to this. Because again, it would be one thing for there to be a piece of legislation for Congress to say, we need to have this fund, people in Congress vote on it. The President signs the bill into law. It would be another thing for the President to sign an executive order on this. What happened here is that Donald Trump, as a private citizen, filed a lawsuit against the government that he heads, and then, while sitting on either side of the table, does a totally unaccountable settlement with himself in which he abrogates $1.8 billion of, of the government's money for his own purposes.

[C]

Which is why it's completely unprecedented. And somebody should go tell the good folks over at NRO and some of these other places that in these other settlements, they were done. They were at least adjudicated by courts. Like, whatever you think about them, there was like, a process that was not the person sitting on both sides of the.