Trump administration has dropped plans for anti-weaponization fund, acting AG says

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told members of Congress Tuesday that the Trump administration has permanently abandoned plans to create a $1.8 billion settlement fund for people the administration deems were unjustly targeted by the government. The unexpected announcement came Tuesday as Blanche testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

What exactly did Blanche say? The exchange began when Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., asked Blanche for an update on the administration's plans for the fund in the wake of a federal judge’s order on Thursday. That order barred the administration from moving forward with establishing the fund or making payments from it while a legal challenge to the fund was ongoing. In reply, Blanche told Meng, “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period.” When Meng continued to press Blanche to clarify if that meant the administration would never move forward with the fund, Blanche said that was correct.

How did we get here? The fund’s establishment originally came out of a settlement agreement President Donald Trump brokered with the Internal Revenue Service. Trump brought a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS earlier this year over a former IRS contractor allegedly leaking the president’s tax information. Trump included the nearly $1.8 billion fund as a condition for dropping the case. The fund would have compensated citizens the Trump administration determined had been victims of government weaponization, according to acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche.

What kind of legal challenge was the fund facing? Several Capitol police officers who were on duty during the Jan. 6 riots filed a lawsuit last month to stop the fund’s creation. Officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges characterized the fund as illegal, and alleged that the money would support people they described as violent paramilitary groups and pro-Trump insurrectionists. That lawsuit prompted U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema to issue her ruling on Thursday.