US federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s ‘anti-weaponisation fund’

A United States federal judge temporarily blocked the administration of President Donald Trump’s nearly $1.8bn “anti-weaponisation fund” to compensate victims of what Trump has called government “weaponisation”.

On Friday, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia blocked the Trump administration from “taking any further action” to set up or operate the fund while the judge hears additional legal arguments.

The judge, who was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton, scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments about whether to extend the order blocking payouts.

The Department of Justice announced the fund last week as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of Donald Trump, in his personal capacity, against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stemming from allegations that Charles Edward Littlejohn, a former contractor, leaked Trump’s tax records to journalists.

The fund was set up to be overseen by a five-member commission which would release money for those who can show that they were victims of “lawfare” and “weaponisation”, terms Trump and his allies have used to describe investigations and criminal cases against them.

Friday’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a group led by a prosecutor of the January 6 riots, Andrew Floyd. The suit claimed that the fund would be partisan to fund Trump supporters and not those who are the president’s political opponents.

The Justice Department has yet to form the commission that will decide on payout criteria, so there has been no money paid out yet or claims accepted.

The fund spurred a backlash, even from some lawmakers in Trump’s Republican Party, who expressed anger that some people who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, would receive taxpayer-funded payouts.

During a congressional hearing earlier this month, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche would not rule out the possibility that rioters who assaulted police on January 6 could be eligible.

Nearly 1,600 people were charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. More than 1,200 were convicted and sentenced before Trump handed out mass pardons, commuted prison sentences, and ordered the dismissal of every pending January 6 criminal case last year.