To the Editor:
Re “Risking Wrath of Trump, Some in G.O.P. Push Back” (front page, May 23):
Congressional Republicans may be nowhere near defying President Trump’s sweeping right-wing agenda, but the opposition of some senators to the president’s outrageous $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded scheme to finance claims of mistreatment and possibly to support anew the grievances of Jan. 6 felons is a refreshing departure from second-term blind subservience to President Trump by Republicans in both chambers.
For Mr. Trump, though, pardoning the felons who desecrated the Capitol, brutalized police officers and tried to violently interfere with the certification of a presidential election was clearly not enough. Now, stooping to a new low of lawlessness himself, the president may seek to reward these people by offering them restitution, provided directly by American taxpayers.
With his yearslong twisted interpretation of the horrendous attack on the Capitol, the president has sought to justify lawlessness that he personally orchestrated and encouraged. Now, finally, Senate Republicans — some of whom are taking a firm stand on the $1.8 billion fund — have found the courage to openly express firm opposition to Mr. Trump’s scheme. At long last, it’s a meaningful challenge to his tight grip on them.
Roger Hirschberg South Burlington, Vt.
To the Editor:
Republican senators expressed outrage at President Trump’s plan to create a slush fund from which he would compensate cronies for having been investigated and in many cases convicted of crimes. So it seems that these sycophants can, indeed, distinguish between right and wrong.
The outrage was expressed mostly by senators who have either decided not to run again or who have been defeated in primaries. This scenario only underscores the cowardice of these elected officials who have abandoned their sworn responsibility to serve the best interests of the nation in deference to their desire to remain in office. Shame on us for electing such corrupt people.
Bill Gottdenker Mountainside, N.J.
To the Editor:
Re “Curious Legal Aspects of Trump’s New Fund,” by Adam Liptak (The Docket column, May 24):
Let’s use simple language to describe what is happening here: President Trump, aided by his sidekick Todd Blanche, is using a bogus nonadversarial court proceeding, with a too-clever “settlement,” as a fig leaf both to immunize himself, his family and his businesses from federal tax liability and audits, and to confiscate $1.776 billion of taxpayer money to be enjoyed by his friends and allies at the unreviewable discretion of a five-person commission controlled by Mr. Trump. A fairly audacious maneuver, one may say.
This travesty is, among other things, an egregious abuse of the federal court system. It is also an impeachable offense. (There has been no shortage of those in Mr. Trump’s second term to date.)
Newman T. Halvorson Jr. Washington The writer is a retired lawyer.
To the Editor:
Re “There Has Never Before Been Presidential Corruption Like This” (editorial, May 21):
Why so much hand-wringing? Donald Trump did not become president in a vacuum. He rose with the support of enablers, opportunists and those eager to grab onto his coattails for their own advantage.
The current outrage over corruption often sounds like parents complaining that their 8-year-old wants to eat only junk food. I have always found that amusing since in many cases adults buy the junk food, bring it home and normalize it.
Likewise, Mr. Trump did not create this culture alone. Politicians, corporations, donors, media figures and voters all helped build and sustain it because many benefited from doing so. At some point, the constant expressions of shock become less convincing than an honest acknowledgment that plenty of people decided there was money, influence or power to be gained along the way.
Angie Lin Chappaqua, N.Y.
Living With Dementia
To the Editor:
Re “A Memory Long Lost Flutters In, but How?,” by Ellen Barry (Science Times, May 26):
My mother lived with dementia for several years until she died, in 2024, at age 98. It was heartbreaking to watch her suffer from memory loss as she sank deeper into confusion.
I often wondered what was going on in her brain that prevented her from remembering that my father, her husband of 70 years, had died in 2021. But maybe the moments that really broke me were when my mother would call out for her own mother, who had died in 1939.
Joan DeNatale Green West Hartford, Conn.
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