(NewsNation) — Conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro said if President Donald Trump is seeking $230 million in damages from the Department of Justice, he would likely find himself in another impeachment proceeding in the House.
For more of Ben Shapiro’s interview, tune in to Batya! this Saturday at 4p/3C!
“I think that it’s rife with conflicts of interest,” Shapiro told NewsNation’s Batya Ungar-Sargon. “I cannot see a world in which that does not end with either a massive number of lawsuits or even an impeachment in the House. That is just a bad strategy.”
Trump said Tuesday that the federal government owes him “a lot of money” for prior Justice Department investigations into his actions and insisted he would have the ultimate say on any payout because any decision will “have to go across my desk.”
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Trump’s comments to reporters at the White House came in response to questions about a New York Times story that said he had filed administrative claims before being reelected. He sought roughly $230 million in damages related to the FBI’s 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago property for classified documents and for a separate investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.
Shapiro said he was “incredibly sympathetic” to the Trump family for being “targeted by law enforcement.”
“To pretend that it’s not a conflict of interest, for the president to ask the DOJ that he appointed to maybe sign him a check for $230 million, even if it’s going to go to charity, that obviously raises significant conflicts of interest that I think would be impossible to get around in sort of any legal context.”
Trump said Tuesday he did not know the dollar figures involved and suggested he had not spoken to officials about it. But, he added, “All I know is that they would owe me a lot of money.”
