Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche listens to questions from reporters during a press conference at the Department of Justice on June 11, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
A federal judge in Virginia on Friday granted a longer injunction to the Justice Department’s efforts to implement an anti-weaponization fund, saying acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s oral argument that the fund could not proceed was insufficient assurance.
As Blanche recently testified before Congress, Judge Leonie Brinkema gave Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent one week to file written affidavits saying they would not proceed with the fund, MS NOW reports.
Brynma’s decision to issue a preliminary injunction against the $1.8 billion fund was made at the request of plaintiffs who filed suit seeking a permanent injunction against the fund. The Department of Justice announced that the fund was created as part of President Donald Trump’s $10 billion settlement of his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service for leaking tax records by IRS contractors.
MS NOW reported that Brinkema reiterated during Friday’s court hearing that Blanche’s recent testimony to Congress, in which she claimed the Justice Department was not making progress with the fund, was not enough to ensure that was the case.
The judge noted that after Mr. Branch’s testimony, Mr. Trump said he wanted to move forward with the fund, which Mr. Brinkema said cast doubt on the Justice Department’s claims.
“We’re thrilled that the court understands that there is a harm that needs to be stopped for our planters, and it’s a harm that needs to be stopped for all Americans,” Pooja Boistet, senior counsel at the advocacy group Democracy Forward, which is representing the plaintiffs, said after the hearing.
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