Washington [US], October 22: US President Donald Trump claims the US Department of Justice owes him hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees related to previous investigations into him.
Reuters on October 22 quoted US President Donald Trump responding to information that he is asking the US Department of Justice to compensate him for $230 million in legal costs related to federal investigations against him and announced that he will donate the entire compensation amount to charity.
Earlier on 21.19, The New York Times reported that Mr. Trump was asking the US Department of Justice to compensate for investigations that he said were politically motivated.
"I didn't even talk to them about it," Mr. Trump said of his lawyers.
"All I know is that the Justice Department owes me a lot of money. But I don't want any money... I'll give it all to charity, any amount. But look what they did. They rigged the election," he said.
Mr Trump had sought to overturn his 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden, based on his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
Mr. Trump now leads the federal government that investigated him for false claims related to that election defeat.
The New York Times reported that Mr. Trump filed two administrative complaints, a pre-lawsuit procedure, to seek damages because he believed his rights were violated.
The first petition, filed in late 2023, objects to the FBI and US special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and possible links between his campaign and Russia.
The second, filed in mid-2024, accuses the FBI of invading his privacy during a search of his Mar-a-Lago resort and accuses the US Justice Department of malicious prosecution related to classified documents.
Asked whether Justice Department officials were in conflict when reviewing such complaints, Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin said that in all cases, all officials at the department "follow the guidance of ethics officials."
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
