A $1.776 billion 'anti-weaponisation' fund launched by Donald Trump's justice department is facing mounting legal challenges and bipartisan criticism, with experts labelling it a 'slush fund' for January 6 rioters. The fund, unveiled by acting attorney general Todd Blanche on 18 May, was created to settle a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS over a 2019 leak of his tax returns.
Critics, including former justice department officials and legal scholars, have condemned the fund as opaque and corrupt. Michael Bromwich, a former DoJ inspector general, said: 'Everything about the $1.776bn fund is crazy and corrupt.' Donald Ayer, a former deputy attorney general, called it 'outright theft'. The fund includes an 'addendum' that blocks IRS action on pending tax probes of Trump, his sons and their businesses.
A bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges filed a motion on 27 May asking a Miami judge to reopen Trump's IRS lawsuit, alleging the settlement involved 'fraud on the court'. The judge reopened the case on 29 May to investigate whether the court was deceived. Separately, a Virginia federal judge temporarily blocked the fund's setup and disbursements on 29 May, pending a hearing on 12 June.
The DoJ announced on Monday it would abide by the court ruling. Axios reported that the fund was 'dead for now', citing unnamed sources. Trump told ABC News: 'We are subject to the courts.' The fund gives Trump authority to fire board members without cause, and no payments have been made yet.
