Trump suggests he could be ‘arbitrator’ in DoJ anti-fraud whistleblower scheme

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would personally settle disputes over payouts in a new Justice Department program that pays people who report fraud. Speaking in the Oval Office with Vice President JD Vance, who heads the White House taskforce on eliminating fraud, Trump said he would decide who deserves credit when several people flag the same case, and promised to be generous. It is unclear whether he was serious: the department's website says it holds sole discretion over rewards. The Guardian has sought comment from the department and the White House.

Per the department's website, a tipster can collect as much as $30,000 if the information helps bring criminal charges. Trump, however, described a payout of 1% of whatever fraud is uncovered and said people could earn millions. Vance said the program reaches beyond the False Claims Act, which already lets whistleblowers who sue receive 15% to 25% of penalties when the government steps in, because more than 99% of the federal fraud investigators are finding falls outside that law. He cited Nick Shirley, a conservative influencer whose accusations of fraud at Somali-run childcare centers in Minnesota spread widely, as the kind of person the program should encourage.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →