US President Trump, family granted immunity from pending tax audits

Democratic lawmakers blast move, which follows the establishment of a controversial ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’.United States President Donald Trump, his family, and his businesses have been granted immunity from any ongoing audits into their tax affairs, according to a directive by the Department of Justice.The move on Tuesday came as an addendum to Trump’s agreement a day earlier to settle a $10bn lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leak of his tax information to media outlets between 2018 and 2020.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Photos: Thousands demand president’s resignation in Bolivia’s La Pazlist 2 of 4US authorities say missionary who contracted Ebola en route to Germanylist 3 of 4US to let DR Congo football team in for World Cup despite Ebola restrictionslist 4 of 4Putin meets Xi: Why Russia and China need each otherend of listIn a one-page document, signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Justice Department said authorities would be “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED” from “prosecuting or pursuing” tax claims against Trump, members of his family, and his businesses.The document, which was posted on the Justice Department’s website without any official announcement or press release, stipulates that the waiver applies to inquiries that are “currently pending or that could be pending”, including any related to tax returns filed by Trump before Monday’s settlement.Democratic lawmakers immediately blasted the move.Senator Adam Schiff of California accused the Trump administration of engaging in corruption and “self-dealing”.“The tax-dodging President gets himself and his whole family a tax break, thanks to Todd Blanche,” Schiff said in a statement on social media.Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W Bush, said that exempting Trump from any tax obligations would be unconstitutional.“If the president or his family owe the IRS money, this is a violation of the domestic emoluments clause of the US Constitution, which specifically says that the president cannot receive any profits or advantages from the US government other than his salary appropriated by Congress,” Painter told Al Jazeera.