309: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Trump’s Slush Fund, But Were Afraid To Ask.
#SistersInLaw
Politicon
4.9 • 10.2K Ratings
🗓️ 3 June 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode was recorded prior to the news that the Trump Administration has suggested that it will follow court order and not use the Anti-Weaponization slush fund it created. We note that DOJ has not canceled the immunity it granted Trump from investigations and payment of past taxes that might be owed and has not said they will not find and fund an alternative method to pay those convicted of Jan6 crimes. Legal challenges remain ongoing and remain necessary.
In this episode of Sisters Sidebar, Joyce Vance and Jill Wine-Banks answer your questions on Trump’s controversial slush fund, crimes committed in prison, and more. They discuss why the president cannot legally use taxpayer money as a personal slush fund, ongoing lawsuits challenging the fund, creative ways Congress and citizens might push back, the best internships for aspiring law students, when the hosts first knew they wanted to become lawyers, how crimes in federal prisons are prosecuted compared to the outside world, and whether Trump could receive an automatic self-pardon for potential insider trading.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of Sisters Sidebar with Jill Wine Banks and me Joyce fans. |
| 0:09.0 | To keep up with the show, subscribe, and don't forget to like and hit the bell so you can make sure you get notified of new episodes. |
| 0:17.0 | If you have a question for us, please email us at Sisters-in-law at Politicon.com, or you can also |
| 0:24.2 | tag us on social media using hashtag Sisters in-law. But don't just type your questions. This is our |
| 0:31.2 | favorite part. Your voices are important, and we want to hear them. You can email us a voice |
| 0:37.3 | memo using one of your notes apps, and then we can to hear them. You can email us a voice memo using one of your notes |
| 0:38.9 | apps and then we can play your question on the show. So let's get started. Hello ladies, |
| 0:46.7 | thanks for all you do. My question is about the $1.776 billion slush fund Trump can use to compensate people who have been so-called |
| 0:57.7 | harmed by the previous Democratic administration. Why can't this money also be used to compensate |
| 1:04.0 | people who have been hurt by the Republican-slash-Trump administration? After all, this money belongs to all of us. |
| 1:13.0 | Mary Ann from New York. |
| 1:14.8 | Well, Marian, this is a great question, and it's one that I think it's worth working through |
| 1:19.7 | because our logical instinct is to think, well, maybe we can compensate for what Trump is doing |
| 1:25.4 | by turning it into a fund that could compensate Democrats who have |
| 1:29.8 | been victims of weaponization. But I think we need to resist that temptation. And the way I would |
| 1:36.4 | answer that is to say, this is an illegal allocation of money. Congress has the power of the purse. |
| 1:47.8 | And frankly, a president just can't do this. |
| 1:54.4 | And so we can't sort of make that wrong right by expanding the universe of people who would benefit from it. You know, it's interesting to note, of course, that in Trump's world, the way he envisions this |
| 2:02.2 | fund working is very specific, right? He actually limits its application to only people who are |
| 2:09.3 | MAGA supporters, who were supposedly harmed by a weaponized Biden Justice Department. |
| 2:16.2 | But the important takeaway here is in the final sentence of your question. |
| 2:21.5 | This money does belong to all of us. The Constitution says that only Congress can spend it. |
... |
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