Malpractice - $1.776 Billion Fund Amount & Forever IRS Waiver

Trump II's "Just Us" Department announced a $1.776 billion settlement of the President's case against the IRS for a contractor's releasing of his tax returns, as well as various and sundry other suits by Trump I against the government.  

The amount is grievous for the U.S., especially during out 250th birthday year.  Any number other than 1776 would be better.  January 6th was characterized as "our 1776" by MAGA political leaders and the refrain is a call by the radical right for violent uprising.

The fund formation process is riddled with conflicts.  Trump is both the aggrieved and the decision maker.  I find it odd that only the criminal cases the government had against him were dropped.  His cases against the government were not ceased or put in abeyance.  They remained fresh for him to adjudicate from the inside.

Trump II pardoned all manner of financial fraudsters and Capital rioting violent thugs who also urinated and smeared feces when not attacking Capital police officers.  

Those compensated by his "Just Us" department do not have to pay restitution to their victims.  They can use it for a new burner phone, to pay their legal fees or for a weapon (the beauty of a federal pardon).

An Anti-Weaponization Fund from the government could be used by formerly convicted criminals to buy weapons or target their next fraud victims.

The fund will need to be managed.  Might Trump associated Dominari or Yorkville get the nod?  Will it be held in dollars or World Liberty stablecoins?  

Surely, they wish to grow the corpus.  Might Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners invest some of the funds?  I bet Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds are a hard sell for Jared at the moment.  Kushner may need to replace some recently withdrawn money (in retaliation for Trump II's disastrous war on Iran).

The Guardian reported on the fund itself:

“Once the ($1.776 billion in taxpayer) funds are deposited into the Designated Account, the United States has no liability whatsoever for the protection or safeguarding of those funds, regardless of bank failure, fraudulent transfers, or any other fraud or misuse of the funds,” according to a memo from Todd Blanche, the acting US attorney general.

That statement is darkly comedic given a Trump pardoned fraudster could fraudulently apply for, and possibly fraudulently receive, funds from the $1.776 billion fund.  I see no audits in this fund's future.  It is fully independent with all the rights and freedoms granted money by the Supreme Court.  It can vote.  It can freely travel offshore.  It can prey on underage girls.

Thank heaven Trump II settled with Trump I in an arm-arm-arm-arm's totaling agreement.  Ethically, it's a four arm fire.  But what do you expect from Trump?  The guy defecates on everything, endlessly. 

But 1776 during our 250th Anniversary?  What kind of doofus does that?  One who has a compliant "Just Us" Department.  It's The White House and a Blanched "Just Us" Department who gave us:

the IRS is "forever barred and precluded" from prosecuting or pursuing any and all claims related to the plaintiff or affiliated individuals.

Just when AI should be unleashed on the Trump tax returns, they are given a free pass.  Harkens back to Eric Holder saying he would not investigate financial malfeasance that brought us the 2008 financial crisis.

America, first world for our royal families, private equity underwriters and TechGods.  Third world for everyone else.  And the first world has no shame.  None at all.

Don Jr. Selling "Daddy" Capitalism

FT ran a story on 1789 Capital's massive increase in assets under management after adding Donald Trump Jr. as managing director.   Don Jr.'s private equity underwriter (PEU) set its sights on usurping the legendary Carlyle Group of Pennsylvania Avenue.

First it usurped Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein's "patriotic philanthropy."  The Trumps are not givers so philanthropy had to go.  Good thing the Trump's boys fumbled around and found capitalism, which was always the PEU diversion for loading firms with debt, charging them deal/management fees and siphoning off millions in cash via recaps.  The PEU lobby is called the American Investment Council.  

Now, 1789 Capital is usurping Carlyle's legendary political connections.  FT reported:

Paul Abrahimzadeh, a 1789 Capital partner, said the goal was to reach $10 billion in the next few years, establishing the firm beyond the Trump era. 

He pitched the firm as a new Carlyle Group, the Washington-based investment firm known for its contacts in Washington and once nicknamed “the ex-president’s club” after previously counting George H.W. Bush and John Major as advisers.

Don Jr. sells political influence directly via the Executive Club in Washington, D.C.  

The Trump boys are schooling Hunter with their endless series of "Daddy Capitalism" ventures.  In addition to 1789 Capital the boys have Dominari Holdings and Yorkville Advisors.  Each has numerous SPACs dedicated to profiting from Trump II's gargantuan overspending.

I imagine 1789 Capital, Dominari and Yorkville will all be needed to manage Trump II's new $1.7 billion Cracker Reparations Fund for rioters and fraudsters.  

What would happen if AI were ever directed at his supporters' financial entanglements and tax compliance?  Trump II's Slush Fund could temper the pain with a direct cash injection.

Politicians Red have gone crazy over PEU and their new TechGod brethren.  Carlyle was at least bipartisan in its approach.  

Red Team candidates don't have to be PEUs or TechGods as long as they lick the Trump family's shoes and those of their major sponsors.   

Note:  The Carlyle Group was the impetus for PEUReport and the topic of my very first post in 2007.  This blog identified numerous PEU concerns over the years and hopes to continue doing same.

Update 5-19-26:  "Daddy" has his own version of executive capitalism going:

...the President, and most likely his sycophants, are day-trading stocks, and in some case blatantly front running their own statements.

You can't talk bad about insiders no matter how depraved those insiders act.  

 Jesus Sermon on the Mount was not delivered on a mound of money.  It had no sponsors or investors.  

All those earthly gains will not help greedy insiders when they depart this earthly plane.  That's because Mars sucks far more than Mar-a-Lago.  However, there is an eternity far worse than either.  And we will all be judged for our time here. 

Pecos Tax Break: AI Absurdity

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts recommended approval of a massive tax break for a dedicated power plant near Pecos, Texas that would serve one giant data center.  None of the power generated would go to the public.

The $227 million tax abatement over ten years would subsidize a project needing attractive returns for Chevron and Engine No. 1 (an investment company with a hedge fund background).  

Ownership stakes for the project have not been disclosed.  The state provided documents which were not searchable (at least on my computer).  

The project will provide 25 permanent jobs after completion.  That's $9 million in subsidy per permanent job.  

The State of Texas and Governor Rick Perry gave The Carlyle Group's Vought Aircraft Aviation $1 million per job cut over the initial term of their economic development subsidy.  The Carlyle affiliate promised 3,000 new jobs for $35 million.  They cut 35 positions while making interest profits on the $35 million.   

I keep saying things could not be worse, but they keep getting darker and more sinister.  The West Texas AI boom is brought to us by the Lords of Capital (private equity underwriters - PEU) and their TechGod brethren.  

Their investment hurdle rates stand on the back of Texas residents who lose on all fronts, power prices, water availability, rapidly increasing costs (rent, hotels) and pollution/environmental degradation.

Elected officials should be required to office or spend weekends in manufactured homes that border these giant data centers/city sized electricity generating plants as long as the tax abatement lasts.

Red Politicians in Texas love PEUs and their new TechGod brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and for that the common person suffers.  

PEUroes: Lords of Capital & TechGods

"PEUroes" is an adaptation of "Heroes" by David Bowie.  This 2026 rewrite is inspired by the Lords of Capital - private equity underwriters (PEU) and their TechGod brethren.  

I, I will be lord
And you, you will be god
No officials will steer us away
We can stiff retirees just for more fees
We can be PEUroes just for one IPO 

And you, you need to disrupt
And I, I'll be greedy all the time
'Cause we're investors, that is a fact
Yes, we're investors, that is that 

Though Epstein can keep us together
Jeff could steal jailtime, just for one lay
We can be PEUroes living forever
What'd you say? 

I, I wish you could IRR
Like the mafia, like dons can IRR
Though Trump, Trump will keep us together
We can be richer for ever and ever
Oh, we can be PEUroes just for an epoch 

I, I will be lord
And you, you will be god
No officials will give us away
We can be PEUroes just for big bills
We can be TechGods who "just don't die"

I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing by the vault (by the vault)
And the crypto fell by our feet (by our feet)
And we kissed as though no asset could fail (no asset could fail) 

And the shame was never on the sponsor
Oh, we can beat banks for ever and ever
Then we could be PEUroes
Just for an epoch 

We can be PEUroes
We can be PEUroes
We can be PEUroes
Just for an epoch
We can be PEUroes 

You're nothing, but our carry will help you
Maybe we're lying, but you better not say
Yes, you could be richer, for more than an epoch
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, more than an epoch

Just do things our way... 

And Elon will give you that Penthouse.  Enjoy the centerfold.

SimPEUlarity is Here!

West Texas has achieved SimPEUlarity.  To understand the term it is useful to examine Singularity in physics.

Singularity - a point or region of infinite mass density at which space and time are infinitely distorted by gravitational forces and which is held to be the final state of matter falling into a black hole

The Big Bend region is home to The McDonald Observatory.  Texas has long had numerous political black holes.  

I offer the following with a private equity underwriter (PEU) twist.

SimPEUlarity - a point or region of economic development in which government, private equity (the Lords of Capital) and their TechGod brethren have distorted market and political forces to the point citizens feel like they are falling into a black hole.

This happens when citizens have four data centers interested in San Angelo/Tom Green County and two of the four are a complete secret.  

This happens when Chamber of Commerce executives excitedly share how private equity has "discovered" our area and wants to do deal after deal after deal.  Many of our local employers already had PEU sponsors.  They implemented job/benefit cuts and pay raises?  They were few and far between.  Generous applied more to executive gains than to anything that actually dribbled down to staff.

This happens when elected officials prioritize the needs of corporations over the interests of and service to citizens.  

This happens when nearly nearly every story could be cross-posted on all three of my blogs, 1) private equity, 2) local focus and 3) national politics.  

It's SimPEUlarity.   For those unaware of what is happening in our area of West Texas I offer the following

The City of San Angelo has partnered with private equity backed Skybox Data Centers since March 2025 when City Council approved a letter of intent for land sale and annexed that very property into city limits in the same meeting.  PEU Blue Owl Capital has financed numerous Skybox projects.

Skybox hired Emergent Data Centers to develop their potential project.  Emergent markets the SA1 Data Center as "a municipal partnership built for speed" and having "exceptional municipal support."  Emergent's founder Chris Sumter highlighted his private equity pedigree in a recent public meeting.

The other three potential data centers are exploring sites in Tom Green County.  Beacon Data Centers has an option on land west of San Angelo in the Dove Creek area.  Beacon is owned by PEU Nadia Partners.  Dove Creek residents spoke loudly in a public meeting, asking for Beacon to go elsewhere.  Beacon executives said they would conduct their studies (which few wanted done) and get back with the community on the results.  No one wants to hear the words "we're coming."  

The two secret data center developers will be named at some point if their interest continues.  Their PEU ties can be examined once they are identified.  

The Lords of Capital and their TechGod brethren are the dark energy of the American economy.  They operate unseen and only look out for themselves.  

Texas just approves permits for building, permits for pollution faster than other places and that makes it easier to build this kind of large infrastructure project.

Residents opposing the data center rush can sense the black hole closing in.  Most Texas politicians were sucked in long ago.  Many will need to break away from the SimPEUlarity to actually serve the people.  

Politicians Red & Blue love PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  Increasingly, more are one and for that the common person suffers.

Update 5-17-26:  Wired wrote about companies cutting benefits for the worst reasons. 

Update 5-18-26:  Chevron could qualify for $227 million in tax breaks over ten years for a power plant that does not serve the public but a West Texas data center (near Pecos).  In addition to funding Chevron's subsidy West Texans would get the pollution from gas fired generators.  

That's the deal our elected officials are offering.  That's a $9 million tax break per job created ($227 million divided by 25 jobs).

Dylan Ratigan wrote about the intersection of political influence in cornering subsidies, regulatory advantage and creating monopoly power,  When that happens capitalism is replaced by a leveraged extraction system.  I contend that's what the PEU boys and their new TechGod buds have created over the decades.

Trump II Traded TechGods & PEUs

Trump II's financial disclosure indicated millions in stock trades in the first quarter of 2026.  He bought and sold shares in private equity underwriters (PEU).  They include:

• Apollo Global Management
• Blackstone, Blackstone Secured Lending, Blackstone MTG TR Inc. REIT & Invitation Homes
• Blue Owl
• Carlyle Group
• KKR 

TechGod stock purchased/sold by Trump II include:

• Apple 
• Amazon
• Alphabet
• Broadcom
• Intel
• Meta
• Microsoft
• NVIDIA
• Oracle
• Palantir

The filing shows gobs of trades on 2-23-26.    

Trump II and Bibi Netanyahu attacked Iran five days later.  That conflict remains unresolved.  Trump II alternates from "needing help to resolve it" to not needing any.  

Lurch, he does.  

Trump II loves PEU and their new TechGod/CryptoBro brethren.  He loves them so much they are in and out of his portfolio.  

Trump II loves them, he loves them not.  He loves them a little and then something happens.  He really loves them NOT.

Update 5-16-26:  Anyone with Trump Discernment Skills (TDS) can see this as his latest egregious, grand, in-your-face violation of historical norms within top political leadership.

Previous presidents divested assets or took other steps to avoid conflicts of interest or even the appearance of ethical issues while in office.

Trump II is a alone in his own ethical ether:

Federal law only required officeholders to report transactions involving securities after the passage of the STOCK Act in 2012, which strengthened disclosure requirements for executive branch officials and members of Congress. 

 Neither former President Barack Obama, whose money was invested in Treasury bills and broadly diversified mutual funds, nor Joe Biden traded stocks or bonds while in office. Trump is the first president who triggered the disclosure requirement.

There is no conflict of interest according to White House officials as the concept has gone the way of race in Crackerland.  Neither one exists anymore in Trump world, the place where liars cheat and cheaters lie.  

Trump usurped the White House to further his business at every possible turn.  

Dominari Reported Material Weakness in Internal Controls

Dominari's most recent 10-Q noted:

Item 4. Controls and Procedures 

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures 

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that material information required to be disclosed in our periodic reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Our disclosure controls and procedures are also designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act are accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. 

We carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)under the Exchange Act. Based upon that evaluation, as of March 31, 2026, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to the material weakness in our internal controls. 

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. 

Material Weaknesses in Internal Controls 

During the period ended March 31, 2026, due to staffing and resource constraints, the Company required significant additional effort to close the books and records, and record appropriate account adjustments. As such, information technology, business processes and financial reporting controls were deemed to be ineffective due to (a) the lack of personnel to ensure the books and records are closed accurately and on a timely basis, (b) lack of sufficient review over the accounting for certain transactions recorded at fair value, (c) the lack of appropriate segregation of duties, (d) certain general information technology control deficiencies regarding user access provisioning and administrative access review, and (e) insufficient documentation to support and evidence the design and implementation of controls. 

Remedial Actions 

As a result, our management performed additional analysis as deemed necessary to ensure that our financial statements were prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Management understands that the accounting standards applicable to our financial statements are complex and will seek to enhance controls over its experienced third-party professionals with whom management can consult with respect to accounting issues and remediate this material weakness. The Company has engaged an outside consulting firm to assist in the closing process to ensure that steps are taken to remediate the control environment and to specifically improve the timeliness and accuracy of its financial reporting process. Additionally, the Company is planning to implement certain information technology related changes over the year ending December 31, 2026. 

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting 

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. 

Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls 

Our management does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal controls will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our company have been detected.

To sum up:  internal financial controls are weak, the company sought outside help for monthly and annual close and IT changes are coming.  

Trump Media & Technology Group stated things less harshly in their recent 10-k filing:

In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance of achieving the desired control objectives.

I would expect any Trump related company to have numerous errors and embedded fraud given the way Trump II runs the White House.  Competence and ethics are not our current President's strengths.  Setting up perpetual revenue streams for the Trumps seems to be the priority.