Gavin Newsom Says California Will Seek 100% Tax on Residents Who Get Money From Trump’s ‘Slush Fund’ 

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) pledged to seek a 100% tax on any money Californians receive from President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund.

This month, the Department of Justice created the fund in exchange for Trump dropping his lawsuit against the IRS. In January, the president sued his own administration for $10 billion in damages stemming from a leak of his tax returns that occurred during his first term. His sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who run the Trump Organization, also sued. Based on the leaks, the Times reported in 2020 that the billionaire president paid just $750 in income tax in 2016 and in 2017.

The unprecedented $1.776 billion fund will make payouts to those who demonstrate to a DOJ commission that they were victims of weaponization. Critics have noted that any number of people who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot could qualify. Upon taking office a second time in January 2025, Trump pardoned virtually every Jan. 6 defendant.

Newsom slammed the scheme on Wednesday and said any Californians who receive payments from the fund should be taxed on those gains at a rate of 100%.

“Anyone from California that receives any of those funds, we wanna tax 100% of those proceeds,” he said. “And that’s an action the state of California can take. It’s an action we look forward to taking. ”

In a social media post containing the governor’s remarks, Newsom called the pool of money a “slush fund.”

Democratic lawmakers in New York and New Jersey have already started drafting legislation that would tax payouts from the fund at 100%.

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