A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, which was intended to compensate victims of the government’s alleged law.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia blocked the Trump administration from taking “further action” to establish or administer the fund while it hears legal arguments.
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The judge, who was appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton, scheduled a June 12 hearing on whether to extend the payment blocking order.
The Justice Department announced the fund last week as part of an agreement to resolve a lawsuit brought against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in Donald Trump’s personal capacity.
He originally sought $10 billion in damages stemming from allegations that former government contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn leaked his personal tax records to journalists. Mr. Littlejohn was not an employee of the Internal Revenue Service, but President Trump still insisted that tax authorities should be held accountable for the actions of contractors.
The lawsuit and its settlement raise concerns about conflicts of interest within the Trump administration, as the president was represented by an in-house lawyer and was suing government agencies he oversees.
Friday’s ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Democracy Forward, an advocacy group representing people who believe they are considered “ideological or political opponents by the Trump-Vance administration.”
The group also includes former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Floyd, who served as a prosecutor in cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in which Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
The lawsuit argued that the fund was a partisan tool aimed at giving benefits to Trump supporters, not people seen as hostile to the president.
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Floyd’s case is not the only legal challenge to the Anti-Weaponization Fund. There are at least two other complaints.
One of the cases, filed by former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department Police Officer Daniel Hodges, alleges that President Trump created “a taxpayer-funded slush fund to fund insurrectionists and militia groups that commit violence in his name.”
Meanwhile, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW) also filed a lawsuit in Washington seeking to block the funds. Both cases are being handled in federal court in Washington, DC.
“Time and time again, Mr. Trump has ignored Congress, the courts and the people, committed illegal acts and treated the people’s money like his own piggy bank. This slush fund is just the latest example of that,” CREW President Donald Sherman said in a news release.
Under the terms of the settlement, the fund will be overseen by a five-member commission and will provide funding to applicants who can prove they have been victims of “legal conduct” and “use of arms,” the terms President Trump and his allies use to describe investigations and criminal proceedings.
The Department of Justice has not yet established a committee, so no payments or claims have yet been made.
Qualification questions
The fund also drew opposition from some members of President Trump’s Republican Party. Many expressed outrage that the mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, would receive restitution with taxpayer funds.
At a Congressional hearing earlier this month, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not rule out the possibility that the Jan. 6 participants could be targeted, even if they attacked police.
Nearly 1,600 people were charged with federal crimes after the January 6 riot. More than 1,200 people had been convicted and sentenced before President Trump granted pardons, commuted sentences and ordered the dismissal of all pending criminal cases on January 6 of last year.
Questions have also been raised about whether public figures who are the subject of investigations and criminal charges by President Trump are also eligible for payments under the “anti-weaponization” fund.
The fund was established this week amid reports that the Justice Department is opening an investigation into author E-Jean Carroll, who has accused President Trump of sexual assault.
The Justice Department has also begun investigations into people it considers to be Trump’s political opponents, in some cases apparently at the president’s request.
Last September, for example, President Trump posted a message on social media to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, appearing to pressure her to bring criminal charges against her critics, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
“We cannot delay any longer. This will damage our reputation and credibility,” Trump wrote. “Justice must be served now!!!”
Mr. Comey was subsequently indicted on charges of lying to Congress, while Mr. James was indicted on charges of mortgage fraud. Both cases were ultimately dismissed, but the Justice Department later filed new charges against Comey for threatening the president with messages written on shells.
Comey and James deny the charges, arguing that the incident is evidence that President Trump used government power for personal purposes.
Additionally, the Justice Department launched an investigation into former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell after President Trump pressured the central bank governor at the time to lower interest rates. That investigation was ultimately discontinued.
The White House did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
