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WASHINGTON (CN) — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday appeared nonplussed by President Donald Trump’s unprecedented move to demand hundreds of millions of dollars in reimbursement from the Justice Department for federal investigations he faced before his reelection.
And the top House Republican downplayed the idea that a sitting president could receive financial compensation from his own administration, framing the move as a response to political opponents who attack Trump for “everything he does.”
The president on Tuesday acknowledged reports that he was seeking $230 million in restitution from the Justice Department over claims that he had been unfairly prosecuted while he was out office. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he “could be” pursuing the gambit which would see his administration effectively pay its own chief executive.
During the Biden administration, Trump was federally indicted twice — but the Justice Department dropped both cases after he was reelected last year.
Asked about the potential arrangement during a news conference Wednesday morning, Johnson said he didn’t know all of the details and that he hadn’t spoken with the president. But he said that he knew Trump believed “he’s owed that reimbursement.”
“What I heard yesterday was, if he receives it, he was going to consider giving it to charity,” said the House speaker. “I mean, he doesn’t need those proceeds.”
Trump told reporters Tuesday that he would give any reimbursement received from the Justice Department to charity “or something,” adding that he didn’t know exactly how much the agency should compensate him. “All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money,” the president added.
Johnson, meanwhile, appeared to suggest that the president receiving an unprecedented payment from his own administration would be a form of justice.
“We’re for the rule of law,” he said. “We’re for what is just and what is right, and it’s just absurd that … they attack him for everything he does.”
The House speaker quickly changed the subject, turning his ire on Democrats who have ripped the Trump administration for demolishing parts of the White House’s east wing as it works on the president’s proposed ballroom at the executive mansion. He lumped opposition to the project in with concerns about the Justice Department reimbursements, branding both as “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Congressional Democrats have accused Trump of violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause — which bars presidents from profiting off their office — with the proposed restitution. Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, announced Tuesday evening that he would launch an investigation into the $230 million demand.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Trump submitted a pair of complaints in 2023 and 2024, before he returned to office, demanding compensation for Justice Department investigations. One claim revolves around a probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and another involves the classified documents case against the president.
News that Trump could be seeking financial compensation from his own Justice Department comes amid continuing concerns about top agency officials’ ties to the president. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who would likely have a role in reviewing Trump’s demands, served as his personal lawyer before joining the administration.
The Justice Department in recent months has also fired senior ethics officials, including Joseph Tirrell, who was removed over the summer from his post directly advising Blanche and Attorney General Pam Bondi on ethics matters.
The agency also drew criticism in February after then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove fired the career Justice Department official who served as the final authority on ethics issues and discipline at the agency. Bove reassigned the official’s responsibilities to a pair of political appointees — including a former defense attorney who represented Trump.
As of Wednesday afternoon, it was unclear whether Trump had taken any new steps to secure payments from the Justice Department.
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