Today, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams rebuked President Trump’s settlement that resulted in immunity for President Trump and his family, and allocated $1.8 billion for a compensation fund. Following this order, Dan Greenberg, a senior legal fellow in the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, released a statement:

“The law prohibits self-dealing; Judge Williams’s order explains how President Trump and his attorneys broke that law. In particular, Judge Williams found that the $1.8 billion Trump settlement was conducted ‘in bad faith and for an improper purpose,’ thus violating a central requirement of attorney conduct. As the order says, ‘this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the president and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law.’

“The order therefore assesses sanctions against the president’s attorneys and the president. In particular, the judge’s order prohibits the president from discussing or using the settlement in any future official proceeding – a prohibition that will apparently nullify most or all parts of it. Judge Williams’s order underscores that we are living in extraordinary times – and that we have a President who has attempted, and failed, to perpetrate an extraordinary abuse of authority.”

To speak with Greenberg further, contact Christopher Tarvardian.