It was bad enough when President Donald Trump, just hours after his second inauguration, pardoned hundreds of his supporters who had been convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

Even worse, his administration now plans to reward them by using a newly created fund for — in Trump’s words — “reimbursing people who were horribly treated,” a totally misleading description of cases that were properly handled through normal judicial procedures.

Potential beneficiaries include demonstrators who attacked police officers and ransacked the Capitol while seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, plus prominent Trump allies like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and White House aides Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro.

In other words, members of the mob that sought to keep Congress from implementing the Constitution’s electoral process not only got off but now may get paid off.

And as part of a deal that epitomizes his administration’s unprecedented corruption, Trump, his family and his businesses won’t ever face any government tax audits, investigations or penalties.

The Founding Fathers would be appalled. And so should every American.

The Trump administration even set the fund’s value at a symbolic figure of $1.776 billion. Trump has already promised mass pardons as part of his way of celebrating the country’s upcoming 250th anniversary.

The proposed payments are the latest part of Trump’s second-term retribution campaign, one of the main reasons he repeatedly cited for wanting to regain the presidency. His administration is also going after those deemed responsible for their prosecutions and already has fired dozens of government attorneys and FBI agents.

Federal courts have thrown out several retribution prosecutions. But even if they don’t get convictions, they force the accused former officials to spend large sums defending themselves.

Creation of the new fund was the administration’s way of settling a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the Internal Revenue Service over the 2019 leak of some of his tax information to two news organizations, The New York Times and ProPublica. As part of the deal, Trump and his sons agreed to drop both that suit, bypassing a Florida federal court proceeding, and other equally questionable claims, like one seeking $230 million for the federal government’s investigations of possible Russian links with his 2016 campaign. As a result, Judge Kathleen Williams dismissed his lawsuit.

In its announcement, the Justice Department said the fund was designed “to provide a systematic process to hear and address claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.” The Trump administration has accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” judicial procedures when, in fact, they are the ones doing it, on an increasingly massive scale.

The money will come from a special account the department uses to settle lawsuits. That may bypass the need for congressional approval.

There’s no doubt the fund will be tightly controlled by Trump’s allies. It will be managed by a five-person board selected by Todd Blanche, Trump’s former lawyer who is now deputy attorney general and currently the department’s acting head.

Blanche defended “The Anti-Weaponization Fund” Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee, promising transparency and saying the five commissioners would make its decisions. “It’s not limited to Republicans. It’s not limited to Democrats,” he said.

In fact, however, Trump’s comments make clear this will mainly be a way for the president, and his administration, to funnel millions to his friends and allies.

“That is pure theft of public funds, and rewarding individuals who committed crimes is obscene,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who chairs the subcommittee overseeing the department’s funds.

On Day 1 of Trump’s second presidency, he granted clemency to nearly 1,600 people who were either convicted of offenses or were awaiting trial. Since then, according to the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility in Washington, at least 33 of those who were pardoned have been arrested, charged or sentenced for other crimes.

Finally, the creation of this fund only serves to illustrate again how Trump’s main second-term interests are often at odds with the concerns of a public more interested in improving their daily lives.

No wonder his approval rating is falling.

Carl P. Leubsdorf is a columnist for Dallas Morning News.