{"id":2608351,"date":"2026-05-29T16:46:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T20:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-blocks-doj-victim-restitution-after-leftists-complained-the-victims-were-conservatives\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T16:48:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T20:48:59","slug":"judge-blocks-doj-victim-restitution-after-leftists-complained-the-victims-were-conservatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-blocks-doj-victim-restitution-after-leftists-complained-the-victims-were-conservatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Blocks DOJ Victim Restitution After Leftists Complained"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudge-blocks-doj-victim-restitution-after-leftists-complained-the-victims-were-conservatives%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2608351&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A federal judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration from setting up a $1.776 billion \u201canti-weaponization\u201d restitution fund. U.S. District judge Leonie Brinkema blocked the Justice Department while arguments are heard,citing a lawsuit from plaintiffs who say the fund is politically discriminatory as it benefits people claiming they were targeted by \u201cDemocrat administrations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs argue that the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >restitution scheme effectively favors conservative victims<\/a> of actions taken during Democratic administrations, while they dismiss or downplay alleged abuses by republican or Biden-era officials. they claim the fund\u2019s terms allow onyl certain claimants to qualify. The Department of Justice and Vice President J.D. Vance, however, state the fund is available to anyone who believes they were unfairly targeted, and that \u201cDemocrats can submit claims, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The article also argues that some statements by a plaintiff, Andrew Floyd-an ex-jan. 6 prosecutor-bolster the case for broad accountability, although the piece criticizes how Jan. 6 protesters were handled. Brinkema\u2019s decision is portrayed as consistent with her prior rulings against Trump administration policies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ron-desantis-goes-to-war-over-big-tech-heres-why-this-battle-matters\/\" title=\"Ron DeSantis Goes To War Over Big Tech: Here\u2019s Why This Battle Matters\">federal judge blocked<\/a> the Trump administration\u2019s $1.776 billion anti-weaponization restitution fund Friday after plaintiffs claimed the fund was politically discriminatory because it helped victims of Democrat administrations. The Department of Justice created the fund earlier this month to provide restitution for targets of federal political persecution regardless of political affiliation.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, an appointee of President Bill Clinton with a history of ruling against the Trump administration, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/judge-halts-trump-anti-weaponization-fund-jan-6-prosecutor-files-suit-rcna347539\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">temporarily blocked<\/a> the Justice Department from establishing the fund while Brinkema hears legal arguments.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Floyd, a fired assistant U.S. attorney and Jan. 6 prosecutor, John Caravello, a professor who was <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/post\/csuci-professor-acquitted-in-ice-assault-case\/18868468\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">accused<\/a> and acquitted of assaulting a federal agent, the National Abortion Federation, and far-left nonprofit Common Cause <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617\/gov.uscourts.vaed.596617.1.0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued<\/a> the Department of Justice last week to stop the fund.<\/p>\n<p>With seemingly no sense of irony, the plaintiffs\u2019 primary claim is that the fund is politically discriminatory against Democrats, apparently because the lion\u2019s share of potential victims seeking restitution would be conservatives targeted by the Biden and Obama administrations. The plaintiffs\u2019 argument implies that, because Democrat administrations decided to conduct large-scale political persecutions of normal Americans they perceived as their enemies \u2014 and there is a much larger number in that victim pool \u2014 restitution should not be allowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy its own terms, the Anti-Weaponization Fund is available only to claimants who assert that they were targeted by \u2018Democrat\u2019 administrations, even though the current administration has weaponized the awesome power of the federal government against its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elites-love-the-deep-state-because-they-loathe-the-american-people\/\" title=\"The elite favor the &#039;Deep State&#039; over the American people\">perceived political opponents<\/a> like no other administration before it,\u201d the lawsuit states. The suit declines to acknowledge how the Biden administration sent its federal thugs after Americans peacefully praying outside abortion facilities, or parents concerned about their children\u2019s public schools, or Catholics who attend Latin Mass, or Jan. 6 protesters who were wildly overcharged and over-sentenced, and much more. It also does not meaningfully mention the Obama administration\u2019s targeting of the Trump campaign, the Russia collusion hoax, or any other abuse that effectively stripped the American people of proper representation in the White House by kneecapping Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President J.D. Vance has <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/22\/senators-fight-harder-against-restitution-for-doj-weaponization-than-against-weaponization-itself\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> that the fund is open to anyone who believes he was unfairly targeted by the federal government, explicitly stating it was open to Democrats as well. Each claim, he said, would be decided on a case-by-case basis. A <a href=\"https:\/\/d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net\/static\/2026\/05\/DOJ-Fact-Sheet-May-21-FINAL_v2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DOJ overview<\/a> of the fund explicitly states that \u201cDemocrats can submit claims, too.\u201d It also notes that the fund is for victims of \u201cuse of government power to target them for \u2018improper and unlawful\u2019 reasons,\u201d without mentioning a requirement that a particular party have wielded the power.<\/p>\n<p>Floyd, through public statements, may be inadvertently making the case for the fund, as he has been displaying the zeal with which prosecutors like himself wanted to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/january-6\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">punish Jan. 6 protesters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst, hundreds of people attacked the foundation of an ordered society by trying to stop the results of a free and fair election \u2014 committing serious assaults on law enforcement and other crimes as they did so,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/jan-6-prosecutor-trump-administration-targets-sue-weaponization-fund-rcna346523\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>. \u201cThen, this administration pardoned them \u2014 removing the accountability that had been hard earned by victims, witnesses, law enforcement, and prosecutors and imposed by impartial jurors and judges. Now they are asking taxpayers to illegally reward them for their crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Never mind the fact that many Jan. 6 protesters were treated <a href=\"https:\/\/solitarywatch.org\/2023\/01\/09\/the-right-finally-protests-brutal-u-s-jail-conditions-but-only-for-january-sixers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disproportionately<\/a> mistreated, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/heres-where-jan-6-trials-stand-on-the-fourth-anniversary-of-the-capitol-riot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">overcharged<\/a>, and subjected to a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/09\/we-need-a-j6-level-manhunt-for-everyone-who-obstructs-immigration-law-enforcement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mass arrest effort<\/a> conducted by the federal government, which essentially sought to target anyone in the vicinity of the protest. Meanwhile, no such effort existed to arrest Black Lives Matter rioters who did <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2020\/09\/16\/riots-cost-property-damage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">significantly more damage<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2020\/oct\/31\/americans-killed-protests-political-unrest-acled\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">caused the deaths<\/a> of numerous Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Binkema appears to have bought into the plaintiffs\u2019 arguments for now, and temporarily blocking the fund is in line with her past decisions against the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, she was one of two judges to block deportations of foreigners who had recently arrived from predominantly Muslim countries. While the nationwide ban on deportations came from Judge Ann Donnelly in New York, Brinkema <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/social-issues\/refugees-detained-at-us-airports-challenge-trumps-executive-order\/2017\/01\/28\/e69501a2-e562-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">blocked<\/a> \u201cthe removal of any green-card holders being detained at Dulles International Airport\u201d for seven days, allowing them access to lawyers as well.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Brinkema <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2025\/03\/28\/judge-releases-detained-venezuelans-temporary-protected-status\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ordered<\/a> the release of a Venezuelan couple who had Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and had been detained by immigration agents, effectively claiming jurisdiction over who is and is not allowed in the United States for herself.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judge Leonie Brinkema temporarily blocks $1.776B restitution fund over claims of political discrimination<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":2608352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_3314-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[69663,80472,4431,23732,80471],"class_list":["post-2608351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-criminal-justice-2","tag-doj-decision","tag-legal","tag-restitution","tag-victim-rights-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_3314-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2608351"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2608355,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608351\/revisions\/2608355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2608352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2608351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2608351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2608351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}