The government established the fund to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over leaked tax returns.
WASHINGTON — On Friday, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s administration pays any claims via $1.776 billion in new settlement fund For their part, the Republican president’s allies see themselves as victims of a weaponized government.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, also barred the government from moving forward with the creation of the fund while a challenge to the fund is pending.
The judge, nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, has scheduled a hearing for June 12 on whether to extend an order blocking payments from the Anti-Weaponization Fund. The government established the fund to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over leaked tax returns.
The White House declined to comment on the judge’s ruling and referred all questions to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The fund has sparked a backlash since it was announced last week, with even Republicans pressuring Acting Attorney General Todd Branch to consider eligibility issues and the possibility that rioters who violently rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, would be free to seek compensation.
The Justice Department has not formed a five-member committee to decide on payment criteria, so no payments have been made or claims accepted.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs at the legal advocacy group Democracy Forward are seeking a court order halting the fund and preventing the Trump administration from making any payments from it. The federal lawsuit claims there is no legal basis or liability behind the fund.
Plaintiffs in the Virginia lawsuit include a fired prosecutor and a college professor who was acquitted of assaulting a federal agent at a protest.
“The Anti-Weaponization Fund has been fraught with illegality from its inception and calls for its complete dismantling,” the lawsuit states.
At least two other separate lawsuits filed in Washington also challenge the fund’s creation. a lawsuit The filing by the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called the fund “a jaw-dropping act of presidential corruption.” Two police officers help defend Capitol building from mob of Trump supporters The lawsuit was filed last week.
period congressional hearingBlanche does not rule out the possibility thugs attacking police May be eligible for funding disbursements on January 6th.
almost 1,600 people Charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. On January 6 last year, more than 1,200 people had been convicted and sentenced before Trump enacted mass pardons, commuted sentences and ordered the dismissal of all pending criminal cases.
Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
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