Rep. Watson Coleman Introduces CORRUPT Act to Prevent Presidents from Enriching Themselves Through Lawsuits Against Justice Department
Today, Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) introduced legislation to prevent a President from suing the Justice Department on a personal basis. The Ceasing Outrageous Restitution and Reimbursement Under President Trump (CORRUPT) Act would amend the Federal Tort Claims Act so that no sitting president or their immediate family members – spouse, children, siblings, or in-laws – can file or benefit from a claim while the president is in office.
President Donald Trump is currently suing the Justice Department for $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him related to the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the 2022 FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, his club and residence in Florida, related to his failure to return classified documents after his first term ended in 2021.
Senior Justice Department officials who would typically approve of any payout are former defense lawyers for the president. Government ethics experts, including the former White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, have called the situation an “egregious conflict of interest.”
In July, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the Justice Department’s top ethics advisor.
“Anyone can see that a president who would sue the government, then appoint his own personal lawyers to decide on a settlement, is blatantly corrupt. It doesn’t take a law degree to make that determination; anyone with eyes can see it,” said Congresswoman Watson Coleman. “This commonsense bill will help prevent the American taxpayers from footing the bill for that corruption.”
The CORRUPT Act is cosponsored by Reps. Andre Carson (IN-07), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Angie Craig (MN-02), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Al Green (TX-09), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Summer Lee (PA-12), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), and Rashida Tlaib (MI-12).
Text of the CORRUPT Act can be found here.