Reports this week that President Trump is demanding that the Justice Department pay him $230 million in compensation for wrongful prosecution is making Republican senators uncomfortable amid the 24-day government shutdown.

GOP senators, including members of the Judiciary Committee, don’t know how to respond to the story, which broke in The New York Times on Tuesday, that Trump is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the Justice Department and his former defense lawyer is in a position to sign off on the settlement.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary panel, which has oversight of the Justice Department, said while Trump may be entitled to some compensation, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche should not be the person signing off on a settlement, given his ties to Trump.

“He shouldn’t decide because he’s his former lawyer,” Graham said when asked whether Blanche should recuse himself from the decision on whether to pay Trump for damages related to the investigations of former special counsel Jack Smith.

But Graham says the president has a right, just as any American does, to seek compensation if the Justice Department’s investigation and prosecution were deemed to be damaging and wrongful.

“He has a right to make a claim if he was wronged,” he said.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) warned on Wednesday that the political “optics” of Trump receiving a windfall payment from the Justice Department raise “concerns,” and he said the timing of the news was “horrible” because........

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