Trump says he gave up money so lawfare fund can help others
President Donald Trump defended the new $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund after Republicans objected too the idea. He said he could have pursued a more lucrative settlement involving his tax returns and the Mar-a-Lago break-in, but instead claimed the fund will help people he says were abused by the Biden administration.
The Justice department announced the fund as part of a settlement with Trump, his older sons Eric and Donald Jr., and the Trump Association, after they agreed to drop a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax returns. Acting Attorney General Todd blanche reportedly proposed paying the fund from the DOJ’s judgment fund (Congressional money appropriated to settle cases). Claims handled through commissioners would reportedly stop processing after December 2028-just before the end of a second Trump term.
Critics argue Republicans should be concerned about the optics of using taxpayer money and note that individuals accused or convicted of assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot are not eligible. In the latest political backlash, a GOP meeting at the White House on a $70 billion immigration bill was postponed in part due to the fund, alongside a separate Secret Service request for $1 billion in security upgrades, including for Trump’s ballroom project.
President Donald Trump defended his $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund on Friday, despite Republican uproar.
“I gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti-Weaponization Fund to go forward,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I could have settled my case, including the illegal release of my Tax Returns and the equally illegal BREAK IN of Mar-a-Lago, for an absolute fortune. Instead, I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!”
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The Justice Department announced the fund on Monday as part of its settlement with Trump, his older sons Eric and Donald Jr., and the Trump Organization after they agreed to drop their $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
The Trumps sued the IRS in January after an agency employee leaked their 2019 and 2020 tax returns.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was also Trump’s personal attorney, has proposed that the anti-weaponization fund be paid for by the DOJ’s own judgment fund, which is appropriated by Congress to settle cases.
Claims, decided by a panel of commissioners, a majority of whom would be appointed by Blanche, would not be processed after December 2028, one month before the end of Trump’s second administration.
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The initiative has been criticized by Republicans concerned not only about the public perception of spending taxpayers’ money on the fund amid economic concerns, but also about the administration declining to make people accused or convicted of assaulting law enforcement officials during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot ineligible.
The Republican pushback reached a climax on Thursday when a GOP meeting at the White House to discuss a $70 billion party-line immigration bill was postponed in response to the fund, in addition to a White House-Secret Service request for $1 billion for security upgrades, including for the president’s ballroom project.
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