As of yesterday, the papers were filed and, if they are self-executing as plaintiff’s lawyers within and without the government claim they are to oust Judge Kathleen Williams of jurisdiction, then the deed is done. Trump’s suit against the IRS is dead. Dead, dead, dead. Dead and buried, never to be resurrected.

Then yesterday, like Lazarus, former criminal defense lawyer cum Auditioning Attorney General, who professed his love for Trump, buried half the Epstein files and sought to “86” Jim Comey for his threatening use of seashells, quietly revealed that there was more, one last piece, to prove his adoration. The nine-page putative settlement agreement, which already incorporated a tax free disclaimer without regard to the requirements of law, had a one-page companion.

In other words, neither Trump, his family nor his businesses are subject to audit, collection or prosecution for any taxes, interest or penalties from the start of time until yesterday. If you thought the settlement agreement, ugly though it may be, was the end of it, meet the zombie addendum to the “dismissal.”  What does this mean?

That the addendum to the deal was posted, without fanfare, on the department’s website belied its bare-knuckled audacity. It revealed the determination of Mr. Trump and his appointees to ram through maximalist measures with minimum outside scrutiny at a moment when they still have uncontested control of government.

The provision was the latest in a series of maneuvers this week that blurred the all-but-vanished boundary between official department business and the private interests of a president intent on using his power to extract financial gain from the federal government for himself and his allies.

Could this have any connection with the General Counsel for the IRS, Brian Morrissey, resigning? It’s possible. And what of the law requiring that the president’s tax returns be audited annually?

Federal law prohibits the president, vice president and other executive officers from instructing the I.R.S. to start or stop specific audits. But that broad prohibition appears to include a carve out for the attorney general.

Does this empower the attorney general to waive all tax law with regard to the president, his family and his businesses? Who knows? It presumes the attorney general to act on behalf of the United States taxpayers, as opposed to his boss, his love, his liege lord. But then, is the will of the president the same as the will of the People, and Blanches’ service to the cause of Trump indistinguishable from his service to the United States of America?

Can Blanche do this? Can Trump do this? Is any of this lawful and constitutional?

We have waded through uncharted waters for the past year and a half, with an executive unconstrained by law, norms, propriety and Constitution. He has done so with the obeisance of a rubber stamp Congress, unwilling to do anything more than feign the performance of their legislative function lest they end up like Tom Massie, Bill Cassidy, and enjoy the benefits of total fealty like John Cornyn.

But this post hoc addendum to a “settlement agreement” that elevates the concept of collusion to its apex breaks ground never before molested. The idea of any past president doing something so audacious, so self-serving, so blatant, seems incredible. The public would never accept it. Perhaps the public still won’t, even if the MAGA faithful will. That remains to be seen, subject to the likelihood of the Democratic Party doing something to self-destruct and remind Americans why they elected Trump a second time despite knowing who he was.

There is no ready answer as to what can be done about this. The obvious is impeachment, but while the House may turn blue after the midterms, or maybe not if the south gerrymanders hard enough. the Democrats still won’t have enough votes in the Senate to convict (with thanks again to Mitch McConnell).

We are deep into virgin territory of graft, corruption and self-dealing, with little expectation of any governmental guardrail holding fast. As I’ve argued over the years, Trump has two, and only two, motivations: Self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment. He’s done nothing in his second term to suggest otherwise. And much as it’s hard to fathom what he could do that’s worse than this, it would be stunningly naive to believe that we’ve hit rock bottom. Trump can always go lower. Maybe a nice 22-foot gold statue of Trump on the north lawn of the White House?