LINDSEY REISER:
00:02:06
So let me shift into reverse. How can the sitting president sue his own government? Basically, why we're here. OK. Because the president was suing as Donald J. Trump, as opposed to President Trump, and any individual can sue the government. But, there is some, let's say, awkwardness to be sure here. And part of that is because, obviously, he is suing his own government. He is a sitting president. And in fact, one of the questions in the beginning of the suit was whether there truly were adversarial parties. In addition, when it comes to suing your own government, who's going to defend that suit? Well, let's go back to our first discussion. It's the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice is supposed to defend the IRS, but the Department of Justice is also, of course, as we just talked about, organized under and responds to the president of the United States. So it can happen, but there are some serious red flags if it does happen.
LINDSEY REISER:
00:03:10
So on the fund, what does the Constitution say about who decides what government is spent and where? So briefly, obviously, Congress has the power of the purse. Congress is supposed to appropriate funds. Now, there is a fund that allows the Department of Justice to dip in and say, we can use money for settlements. This settlement is unique for a whole host of reasons, including the fact that we don't know exactly who the claimants are, what the criteria would be to try and recover. And so, yes, we have these types of settlement funds, but no, in my view, nothing like we've seen in this case. Jessica Levinson, thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you next week. Great.
