A federal judge has instructed the Trump administration to disclose who established the framework for a contentious $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” intended to compensate victims of what some call political lawfare, which was reportedly abandoned by the justice department last month.
Ivan Davis, the US magistrate judge for the eastern district of Virginia, issued the order requiring discovery materials from the government as part of a lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward, a non-profit organization, on behalf of plaintiffs that include a dismissed prosecutor and a college professor who was acquitted of assaulting federal agents during a protest against an immigration raid in California.
“Today’s order granting discovery is an important step in uncovering details about the slush fund,” said Aman George, senior counsel at the non-profit. “We will continue to challenge the government in court until our investigation is finished and this slush fund is permanently shut down.”
Last month, Todd Blanche stated that the fund he suggested before his confirmation “is dead”. The US attorney general told Fox News Sunday: “The fund is dead or whatever word you want to use. It never started. So it’s not like the fund is coming back.”
Democrats argue that this proposed fund would have been used to pay those prosecuted and later pardoned for their actions during January 6 riots, among others. Blanche mentioned that Trump “believes the justice department was weaponized against many Americans” under Biden’s administration, adding: “It really hurt them financially.”
The proposed compensation plan was created as part of an agreement Trump reached with the IRS concerning a lawsuit over leaked tax returns. This agreement protected him and his family from future tax audits.
In July, another federal judge determined that there had never been real conflict between parties and that Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS had only served as a pretext for establishing this fund.
“There was never adverseness between the parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never any doubt about who would win,” US district judge Kathleen Williams stated in her ruling, noting that this lawsuit had been initiated “for an improper purpose – to gain judicial legitimacy for a ‘settlement’ with no valid basis in law or fact.”
The proposed fund faced bipartisan criticism in Washington, including pushback from two Republican senators, John Cornyn from Texas and Thom Tillis from North Carolina. This also put Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general at risk.
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Critics have pointed out that documents requested by lawmakers did not list signatories involved in forming this initial agreement, hinting that it could be revived later on. Blanche has said there were “never commissioners” overseeing these payouts. However, Senate Democrat Cory Booker expressed concern saying that this agreement ensured “nothing … no guarantees whatsoever that this slush fund still can’t go forward.”
Trump has lamented over losing out on this fund and hasn’t ruled out seeking other means for compensation. “It is dead, but you know I wish it weren’t,” he remarked about the fund during a cabinet meeting in July. “To be honest with you I think people were horribly treated, horribly abused.”
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