Dear Editor and gentle reader,

These tidbits come from the Minnesota Star Tribune two weeks ago.  “Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday the federal government will send warning letters to states across the country requiring them to show they are aggressively prosecuting Medicaid fraud.” 

Then the article exposes possible hypocrisy. “February 2020: Trump commutes the sentence of Judith Negron, who was convicted in a $205 million Medicare fraud case. In May 2025, Trump commutes the sentence of Lawrence S. Duran, who pleaded guilty in the same case. December 2020: Trump commutes the sentence of Philip Esformes, who was convicted in a $1.3 billion Medicare/Medicaid fraud case. January 2021: Trump commutes the sentence of Salomon Melgen, who was serving a 17-year sentence for defrauding Medicare of $42 million.
October 2025: Trump nominates Benjamin Landa as ambassador to Hungary. Landa’s nursing home is under a federal audit alleging $32 million in Medicare overpayments.”

These are big numbers. Trump is described as a transactional president. What could a possible quid pro quo entail?   

Note that one of the justifications for the ICE invasion of Minneapolis and St. Paul claimed that there had been Medicare fraud amongst the Somali population there.  Governor Walz has been investigating and prosecuting those accused of this fraud.  

Now we have the latest outrage, the slush fund for supposed victims of the “weaponization” of the Justice Department under Biden. Biden’s DOJ prosecuted the insurrectionists from January 6, as well as others in Trump’s orbit. Trump had sued the IRS (which he runs) for the leak of 17 years of his tax documents (along with 400,000 other individual and corporate returns). It was leaked by a private contractor for the IRS. It showed Trump paid a pittance, along with many other multi billionaires. He sued for $10 billion but negotiated to drop that lawsuit in exchange for this slush fund of  $1.76 billion.

This caused an uproar in Congress last week. Republican Senators had a yelling session with Todd Blanche, Trump’s acting Attorney General, after asking if any of this fund could be used to pay his most loyal followers, including the 1,500 that he pardoned from the January 6 invasion of the US Capital.

This insurrection caused millions of dollars of damage to the capital building, injured over 140 capital police, threatened to kill members of Congress, tried to overturn the election, and eventually caused the death of five individuals. These 1,500 could actually get a payday.

And then there’s Tina Peters, who caused over a million dollars damage to Mesa County election equipment and was convicted of multiple felonies by a Republican District Attorney and a 12-member jury. She could get a big payday as well. 

A quote by Bryan Tyler Cohen sums it up well. “A million dollars per insurrectionist, courtesy of the American taxpayer. (For context: the average American makes about $60,000 a year. So while you’re paying your taxes, Trump is cutting a check to the guy who beat a Capitol police officer with a flagpole. You’re welcome.)

“So, essentially, what you’re looking at is Trump suing Trump and winning a massive payout for Trump to be overseen by Trump.”

On top of that, the DOJ (under Trump) negotiated that no one in Trump’s orbit can ever be prosecuted for tax fraud. The whole thing stinks. 

Bill Thibedeau

Gilpin County