Trump’s Name on Treasury Stimulus Checks Was Actually Legal
Newly obtained FOIA documents reveal that the IRS took the extraordinary step of seeking a legal opinion on whether it was appropriate to emblazon President Donald Trump's name on millions of Covid stimulus checks in 2020.
A mock up of one of the Covid-era stimulus check that contained former President Donald Trump’s name in the memo line.
Obtained via FOIA from the IRS
Last week, the Internal Revenue Service dropped the motherlode in my lap: more than 1,600 pages of internal documents, which reveal how the sausage is made at one of the most feared government agencies. Buried in there were hundreds of pages that pertain to the controversial decision to emblazon former President Donald Trump’s name on millions of Covid-era stimulus checks. If you’re not already getting FOIA Files in your inbox, sign up here.
If your memory’s fuzzy about what went down back then here’s a refresher. On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act–aka the CARES Act–a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill that Trump immediately signed into law. Tens of millions of individual taxpayers received cash payments of around $1,200 from the IRS. The money was sent one of three ways: on a debit card, via check, or deposited directly into bank accounts.