The department said it “strongly disagrees” with the ruling but will comply with it.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Monday it would comply with a court ruling that temporarily blocked Nearly $1.8 billion in funds Allies seeking to compensate President Donald Trump effectively agreed to pause the program for at least two weeks after court setbacks and strong opposition from Republicans opposed to potential payments to participants. On January 6, 2021, a riot occurred in the U.S. Capitol.
The Justice Department’s announcement came in response to a court ruling Friday by a federal judge in Virginia who ordered a halt to the fund’s plans pending more arguments later this month. The department said in a statement it “strongly disagrees” with the ruling but will abide by it.
The Trump administration has defended the $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” it established to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over leaked tax returns as an appropriate corrective measure to remedy what officials insist is the weaponization of law enforcement during the Biden administration.
While some Trump supporters, including participants in the Capitol riot, celebrated the fund’s announcement, the response from congressional Republicans was decidedly more hostile. Senators pressed Acting Attorney General Todd Branch over the fund in a closed-door meeting last month, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz calling the meeting “one of the roughest meetings I’ve ever seen in the Senate.”
Two court rulings on Friday raised questions about the future of the fund.
A Virginia judge temporarily halts the group’s formation A hearing is scheduled for June 12 on whether to extend an order barring the government from advancing the fund while a lawsuit challenges it pending.
The Justice Department said in a statement that it disagreed with the ruling and that “the fund is open to anyone who has been subject to such weaponization, targeting, or persecution, whether they are Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, Independents, or others.” “The Department will comply with the court’s ruling.”
Separately, a Florida federal judge overseeing Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS ordered Trump’s lawyers to address “serious allegations” from critics of the settlement that the president dropped his claims to avoid court scrutiny of the illegal transactions. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams gave them until June 12 Reply in writing collusion charges and whether the case should be reopened because the court was a “victim of fraud.”
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