Biden gives DOJ green light to resume Obama-era 'slush fund' payouts to liberal groups
Justice Department had ceased the practice early in President Trump's administration
By Ronn Blitzer | Fox News
President-elect Joe Biden is calling for the Justice Department to look into reinstating a controversial Obama-era practice that allowed prosecutors to make settlement agreements that resulted in defendants paying outside groups instead of victims or the government.
The Trump administration had put an end to these payments following a 2017 memo from then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions which was reflected in the Justice Department's manual.
"When the federal government settles a case against a corporate wrongdoer, any settlement funds should go first to the victims and then to the American people — not to bankroll third-party special interest groups or the political friends of whoever is in power," Sessions said in 2017.
A Republican-backed bill known as the "Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act of 2017" would have made the practice illegal.
"Congress must permanently end the abuses Obama's Justice Department exploited to use settlements to funnel money to their liberal friends," then-Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who sponsored the bill in the House, said in 2017.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-doj-obama-era-slush-fund-payouts-liberal-groups
