A federal judge indefinitely stopped the Trump administration from creating the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, extending a court-ordered block that was set to expire Friday.
Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia gave the administration one week to provide a sworn declaration that the fund, intended to compensate people who claim to be victims of a weaponized government, won’t proceed.
Judge Brinkema’s preliminary injunction cited acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement that the fund would be scrapped after facing bipartisan backlash.
President Trump then suggested he would work to find a way to implement the fund, which could compensate people harmed by what his allies call President Biden’s lawfare, plus those charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack.
While government attorneys say that lawsuits challenging the fund are essentially moot, Mr. Blanche’s assertion that the fund is dead did not satisfy the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
“The (government’s) mootness argument, in my view, doesn’t go anywhere,” the judge said.
She questioned Justice Department attorney Andrew Block during Friday’s hearing over why Mr. Blanche had not rescinded his previous order that established the fund, to which he said he did not know.
A different judge in Washington rejected a separate request for a court order temporarily blocking the fund on Wednesday, instead accepting Mr. Blanche’s assertion that the fund was moot.
Judge Brinkema had temporarily blocked creation of the fund for at least two weeks, which would have expired Friday.
The fund was created to resolve President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The Justice Department then set up the $1.776 billion fund to compensate those who show they were victims of “lawfare” and “weaponization.”
Plaintiffs argued that the government cannot legally dole out taxpayer money into what they argue is a slush fund for the president’s allies.
• This article includes wire service reports.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.