{"id":131,"date":"2026-05-21T04:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=131"},"modified":"2026-05-21T04:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:12:18","slug":"there-is-a-way-to-claw-back-trumps-grift-and-his-own-officials-blessed-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=131","title":{"rendered":"There is a way to claw back Trump\u2019s grift \u2014 and his own officials blessed it"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump is making endless news with tales of corruption, grift and self-dealing, but Protect Democracy leaders Justin Florence and Justin Vail say there are already tools in place to snatch away Trump and his family\u2019s ill-gotten goods, even before he\u2019s found guilty of it.<\/p>\n

Read more America\u2019s founders would be \u2018disgusted\u2019 by Republicans: Historian<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSimply put, under a legal principle called disgorgement, you don\u2019t get to keep what you stole,\u201d they told MS NOW.<\/p>\n

Disgorgement, they say, has \u201cdeep roots in moral tradition and American law.\u201d The Securities and Exchange Commission\u2019s disgorgement authority, at issue in the Supreme Court this term, lets the government recover the money that fraudsters make through securities fraud \u2014 which includes the possibility of crypto or prediction market scams.<\/p>\n

What funny, of course, is that when confronted with the disgorgement argument, Trump\u2019s own government attorneys bought into it and supported the notion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue before the court is whether the government needs to prove that the wrongdoer hurt specific people. The administration said \u2018no\u2019, arguing: \u2018Disgorgement is a remedy designed to strip ill-gotten profits from wrongdoers,\u2019 so \u2018SEC disgorgement under current law is not conditioned on a showing of pecuniary harm to victims,\u2019 said Florence and Vail. \u201cIn short: Those who profited through fraud have to give up the money, and it goes to the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Judge tells Trump\u2019s critics: Don\u2019t comply with DOJ subpoenas<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s doubtful that Trump\u2019s attorneys had Trump and his family and cohorts in mind while voicing these arguments before the court, but the argument stays, and it\u2019s strengthened by the administration\u2019s own endorsement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the pilfered money actually belongs to the American people,\u201d they argue. \u201cThose seeking payouts from the new Trump fund should not expect to keep that money if their claims cover up evidence of crimes such as attacking the Capitol \u2014 that would trigger the False Claims Act and enable disgorgement. Crypto profits built on insider knowledge of a presidential announcement? Claw them back. The foreign government \u2018deals\u2019 that blur the line between statecraft and self-enrichment in which the president and his relatives rake in billions? The coerced corporate donations and prediction market winnings? It\u2019s time to get the money back.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Trump\u2019s pardons can\u2019t stop any of this, they argue. Nor can the Roberts Court\u2019s wild grant of criminal immunity in Trump v. United States. After all, this is an argument not of guilt but of money, and those in Trump\u2019s orbit \u201cwho cross the line should know: Even with a promised pardon, the law can come for what they\u2019ve taken from the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018No fantasy\u2019: CNN data guru sounds the alarm for the Texas GOP<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump is making endless news with tales of corruption, grift and self-dealing, but Protect Democracy leaders Justin Florence and Justin Vail say there are already tools in place to snatch away Trump and his family\u2019s ill-gotten goods, even before he\u2019s found guilty of it. \u201cSimply put,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nThere is a way to claw back Trump\u2019s grift \u2014 and his own officials blessed it - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=131\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There is a way to claw back Trump\u2019s grift \u2014 and his own officials blessed it - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Donald Trump is making endless news with tales of corruption, grift and self-dealing, but Protect Democracy leaders Justin Florence and Justin Vail say there are already tools in place to snatch away Trump and his family\u2019s ill-gotten goods, even before he\u2019s found guilty of it. \u201cSimply put,...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=131\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T04:12:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2e75853a16662f2206ac7dfa0fd0c02d.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=131#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=131\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"There is a way to claw back Trump\u2019s grift \u2014 and his own officials blessed it\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-21T04:12:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=131\"},\"wordCount\":480,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=131#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/2e75853a16662f2206ac7dfa0fd0c02d.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=131#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=131\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=131\",\"name\":\"There is a way to claw back Trump\u2019s grift \u2014 and his own officials blessed it - 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