Filthy Cabbage: A Recipe for Resistance

Self-dealing and deplorable, Trump is at it again. Here's what we can do.

The full recipe and actions you can take are below.

There’s a dish going viral right now called Filthy Cabbage. I made it and it’s incredibly good!

But it’s not the filthiest cabbage in the land.

That distinction belongs to a one-page document, quietly tucked behind a hyperlink on the Department of Justice website, that the acting Attorney General of the United States signed this week on your behalf. You didn’t authorize it. Nobody asked you. But it seeks to bind you, and every American after you, forever.

Let’s talk about what happened, and then let’s eat.

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The Deal

On Monday, the Trump administration announced a settlement resolving a $10 billion lawsuit that Donald Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization had filed against the IRS. The suit stemmed from the unauthorized leak of Trump’s tax returns by a former IRS contractor. Instead of a direct payout to the president, the settlement created a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” drawn from the Justice Department’s judgment fund, meaning taxpayer money, to compensate people who claim they were unfairly investigated or prosecuted by the federal government.

The fund is expected to benefit Trump’s political allies, including participants in the January 6th Capitol riot. Disbursements will be handled in near-total secrecy, with only a quarterly confidential report provided to the attorney general. Claims stop being processed no later than December 1, 2028, just weeks before Trump is scheduled to leave office.

That alone drew immediate condemnation. Senator Chuck Schumer called it a “get-out-of-jail-free card.” The top lawyer at the Treasury Department resigned the day the deal was announced.

The Quiet Page

The following day, a one-page addendum appeared, buried in a hyperlink with no announcement, no press conference, no explanation. It was signed not by the IRS commissioner but by Todd Blanche, acting attorney general, and former personal criminal defense attorney for Donald Trump.

Lawyer Oyer Liz Oyer, who served as Pardon Attorney for the Department of Justice, reviewed the document and described it plainly: it signs away all claims against Donald Trump on behalf of the United States government.

It states that the federal government is now, in its own words, “forever barred and precluded” from auditing, investigating, or suing Donald Trump, his family members, his businesses, affiliated trusts, and related entities for any tax returns filed before the date of the agreement. The ongoing IRS audit that experts estimated could cost Trump more than $100 million is effectively finished. The right to collect taxes he may owe, gone. The right to reclaim money that may have been improperly taken from the public, surrendered. The right to pursue legal recourse of any kind against Trump or his associates for past tax matters, waived.

And it applies to every administration that follows, not just this one.

Federal law prohibits the president, vice president, and executive branch officials from ordering the IRS to start or stop specific audits. The statute carves out a narrow exception for the attorney general. Critics, including Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, argue that even that carve-out does not cover what Blanche signed. Brandon DeBot of NYU’s Tax Law Center called it “a breathtaking abuse of the tax and legal system.” Representative Richard Neal called it corruption directly.

Trump himself acknowledged the absurdity of the arrangement when the lawsuit was filed, telling reporters: “I am supposed to work out a settlement with myself.”

The Absurd Audacity

A president sued a federal agency he controls. His own Justice Department settled that lawsuit on terms that personally benefit him, his family, and his political allies. A secret addendum was hidden from public view until the day after the announcement. And the whole arrangement was structured to move fast, avoid judicial review, and outlast his time in office.

Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and Senate majority leader, said he was “not a big fan” of the fund and saw no “purpose” to it. Senator Chris Van Hollen told Blanche directly, in a Senate hearing, “You are acting today like the president’s personal attorney, and that’s the whole problem.”

Blanche’s response was to remind the senator of his title.

The people who are supposed to be watching this, asking hard questions, slowing it down, are either complicit, reluctant, or simply outpaced by the speed at which it’s all moving. That’s the design.

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The Recipe

Filthy Cabbage is a one-pot meal that costs very little and feeds a lot of people. Ground beef, cabbage, peppers, a gravy built from what’s already in the pan. It’s the kind of food that doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not. That’s more than we can say for this week’s news.

FILTHY CABBAGE

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef (80/20 preferred)

• 1 head cabbage, chopped into bite-sized pieces

• 1 white onion, diced

• 1 red bell pepper, diced

• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced

• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour

• 3 tbsp tomato paste

• 2 tbsp garlic, minced

• 2 cups beef broth

• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tbsp white sugar or honey

• 1 tbsp smoked paprika

• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste

• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Brown the ground beef in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Do not drain the fat.

2. Push the beef to the sides of the pot. Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the onions and peppers and cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. Add the sugar/honey, paprika, salt, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the garlic and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Add the chopped cabbage in batches if needed. Stir until fully coated in the gravy. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.

5. Simmer covered for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cabbage reaches your preferred texture.

6. If the sauce is too loose, cook uncovered for a few minutes. Serve hot with rice, or on its own.

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What You Can Do

Call your members of Congress. House and Senate. Tell them this settlement is unacceptable and you expect them to say so by name. Senator Thune has already broken from the administration on this, which means the silence of other Republicans is a choice, not an inevitability.

Watch for legal challenges. Multiple legal experts have said the agreement may be unenforceable, and challenges are expected. Pay attention to who brings them and when.

Keep sharing. The fact that the addendum was buried in a hyperlink with no announcement tells you exactly how much confidence this administration has in public approval of what it did. Sunlight is the only pressure available right now that doesn’t require an institution willing to apply it.

Be kind, and … you know.

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The Dad Briefs covers the civic, political, and quietly human stories that shape family life in America — with recipes along the way. Food, Fun and Fatherly Wisdom. Recipes for Resistance.