Softwood slush-fund for Republicans?

james_nicoll tells this story, which could scare the crap outta me. Google doesn't report any follow-up news on it, though it was supposed to be completely resolved as of September 1.

Briefly: the Canada/US Softwood Lumber dispute was wrapped up with $450 million conveyed as a trust fund to the White House for "meritous initiatives" of the President's choosing, not via the Congress. This, according to a trade lawyer in Virginia, is bound to be a slush-fund for Republican re-election campaigns. Anyone out there with contacts who could help confirm or deny this?

Ugh.