President Trump defends Justice Department funding after pushback from Senate Republicans

President Donald Trump on Friday defended the Justice Department’s controversial new Anti-Weaponization Fund, saying “I gave up a lot of money” to allow it to be created.

Trump’s social media comments came a day after the fund faced strong opposition from Senate Republicans, with some lawmakers pushing legislation that would prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for the $1.8 billion payout pool.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, announced earlier this week that he would create a “legal fund” as part of Trump’s $10 billion settlement of a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Mr. Trump did not receive a penny from that settlement. But the fund is intended to compensate many advocates who say they were victims of prosecutorial overreach by the Justice Department under the Biden administration.

Under the settlement, Mr. Trump and his family will be immune from IRS enforcement actions related to their tax returns.

In a post on Truth Social, President Trump wrote, “I have given up a significant amount of money to advance the just-announced anti-weaponization fund.”

“He could have settled a lawsuit involving the illegal release of tax returns and the equally illegal Mar-a-Lago break-in for absolute riches,” Trump said. “Instead, I am helping those who have been horribly abused by the evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden administration finally receive justice!”

Critics of the fund called it a “slush fund” and blasted the idea that members of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, if they were indicted for their actions, could receive compensation from the fund even if they attacked police officers that day.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania, and Tom Suozzi, R-New York, introduced a bill Thursday that would prohibit federal funds from being used to pay claims submitted to Justice Department funds.

On Thursday, Blanche met with Republican senators to defend the plan, many of whom expressed regret over the plan.

After the meeting, in a sign of discord among the caucus, Republican leaders backed away from plans to hold a series of votes on a package that would fund immigration enforcement agencies within the Department of Homeland Security.

“The White House needs to work together on this issue because there are a lot of members of Congress who are concerned,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R.S., told reporters Thursday after speaking with Blanche.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a longtime leader of the Republican caucus, slammed the fund Thursday.

“So the highest law enforcement official in this country is asking for slush funds to pay people who assault police officers?” McConnell said in a statement. “It’s completely stupid and morally wrong. Make your choice.”

But earlier Friday, several House Republicans defended the fund in interviews with CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Asked about the fund, House Budget Committee Chairwoman Jody Arrington (R-Texas) said President Trump was “one of the biggest victims of weaponization” and that she thought it was “the right approach and use of tax dollars as long as there are guardrails.”

But Mr. Arrington also said, “We need accountability and safeguards to ensure that this does not become a slush fund that funds political allies who have no legitimate claims.”

“We need to be fair and objective…That’s why I think the Senate will find a way forward,” he said.

These guardrails could be included as part of the next Congress’ budget reconciliation package, Arrington suggested, “or they could just be agreed upon.”

“I think there’s a need for it,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said of the fund.

Comer claimed that Trump was a victim of “the law.”

When asked about the lawsuit settlement that led to the fund’s creation, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said, “I wasn’t there, so I don’t know the details.”

“No one knows more about the government’s weaponization against him and his family than Donald Trump,” Emmer said. “Whatever agreement is reached, I think it will be fair to both parties.”

Massachusetts House Minority Whip Democrat Katherine Clark criticized Trump and Republicans over the Justice Department fund and the president’s pet projects, including a new ballroom at the White House and a new arch near Arlington National Cemetery.

“We can’t put on display what we saw here this week, where we have a $1 billion slush fund for the ballroom, a $2 billion slush fund for the president, and a Republican and a president proposing $75 billion in additional funding for ICE, which doesn’t cost the American people a dime and doesn’t need any more funding,” Clark said.

Clark said the Trump administration is “building ballrooms and arches and kind of disrespecting them.”