Editorial written by New York Daily News Editorial Board

The dollar amount in Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund memorializes this nation’s revolutionary break from a king; if this agreement fully goes through, we might as well be returning to an unaccountable monarchy. The origin of this corrupt pot of cash for the president to pay himself, his family, and his political allies, including Jan. 6 rioters and other democracy enemies, was his personal lawsuit against the IRS, which has been settled with the new agreement to create the slush fund.

If there has been one through-line to the second Trump administration, it is the effort to relentlessly push the boundaries of what is possible or acceptable by an executive a little further out every day. This represents one major leap in the direction of authoritarianism — the president directly raiding the public offers to enrich cronies, not just via his corrupt business dealings and pseudo-bribes from foreign governments, but straight up getting checks from the public treasury.

We must also ask what this outcome ultimately incentivizes. It’s hard not to read it as the president paying the foot soldiers in his failed 2021 coup for their services, having already ensured that they won’t face criminal consequences for their attempt to end American democracy. Trump has continuously intimated that he may attempt to run for a third term; this would, of course, be unconstitutional, but Trump has demonstrated that he places very little stock in that document.

The Anti-Weaponization Fund being set up in the Department of Justice will have a five-person board answering only to the attorney general, who is now Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer Todd Blanche in an acting capacity. There will be no congressional oversight and no public accountability. It’s also not clear who can seek money, but as the Daily News pointed out, Rudy Giuliani and Eric Adams seem to fit the profile.

The message of these payouts is that those who violate the law, even those who engage in violence on behalf of Trump’s agenda may, not only evade consequences but be compensated with public funds, a sickening outcome. In addition, the settlement reportedly has stipulations that the IRS will forever suspend inquiries into Trump, family members, and companies over past tax non-compliance. What is that if not a direct license to keep even more public money pilfered via nonpayment, and a marker that the president and his inner circle are above the law?

Police officers who defended the Congress on Jan. 6 are suing to stop this Anti-Weaponization Fund, which would reward the mob who beat them. That seems like pretty good standing to us.

Congress, of course, should also probe this extraordinarily corrupt transaction if it is ever able to shake itself out of its stupor and engage in the checks that it is supposed to have on the executive, who has busied himself weaponizing the government for his benefit while sapping Congress’s own powers.

As shocking as this slush fund is, it should best be understood as one more test for what the administration can get away with. If that test is successful, it will absolutely not be the last time that Trump raids our taxpayer dollars to bolster the MAGA agenda in direct contravention to the interests of American democracy.