The Justice Department unveils a $1.8 billion “Anti‑Weaponization” fund
On May 18, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed a new compensation program it calls the “Anti‑Weaponization Fund.” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that the fund will represent “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.” He added that “the use of government power to target individuals or entities for improper and unlawful political, personal, or ideological reasons should not be tolerated by any administration,” quoting Justice Department official Trent McCotter.
The fund will receive $1.776 billion from the federal judgment fund, which pays out court judgments and settlement awards against the government. It is slated to operate through Dec. 15, 2028 and will be overseen by a five‑member commission appointed by Blanche; one member is to be chosen in consultation with congressional leadership, and the president may remove any commission member.
Trump frames the fund as redress for mistreated allies
President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said the fund is “dedicated to ‘reimbursing people who were horribly treated.’” He positioned the program as a response to what he describes as “weaponized” investigations of his allies during the Biden administration, even as critics point out that President Joe Biden himself faced investigations for classified‑information handling and his son Hunter faced tax and gun‑crime charges.
Congressional backlash
A coalition of nearly 100 House members filed a legal brief challenging the fund’s constitutionality. Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called the case “nothing but a racket designed to take $1.7 billion of taxpayer dollars out of the Treasury and pour it into a huge slush fund for Trump at DOJ to hand out to his private militia of insurrectionists, rioters, and white supremacists, including those who brutally beat police officers on January 6, 2021, and sycophant accomplices to his election‑stealing schemes.” Senator Elizabeth Warren labeled the initiative “corruption on steroids.”
Settlement with the IRS
The fund’s creation was part of a broader settlement that ends a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Donald Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization against the Internal Revenue Service. The lawsuit alleged that a leak of confidential tax records caused reputational and financial harm. By agreeing to drop the suit, the Trump family secured the fund’s financing while the Treasury and DOJ resolved the long‑running dispute.