US federal court halts Trump DOJ’s $1.8 billion ‘lawfare’ fund program: Here’s why

Recently a US federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from setting up a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people the Justice Department deems were investigated improperly.

“Over and over again, Trump has acted illegally without regard for Congress, the courts, or the public and treated the public’s money like his personal piggy bank.

This slush fund is just the latest example,” Donald Sherman, CREW’s president, said in a news release.

Under the terms of the settlement, the fund will be overseen by a five-member commission, which will release money to applicants who can show that they were victims of “lawfare” and "weaponization," terms Trump and his allies have used to describe investigations and criminal cases against them.

The Justice Department has yet to form the commission, so there has been no money paid out yet or claims accepted.

The order temporarily halts funding or organizing the fund while a judge considers arguments against the program that critics called a slush fund to reward the president's supporters.

The Justice Department created the fund as part of the settlement of a lawsuit Trump and his family filed against the Internal Revenue Service after their tax returns were leaked.

Democrats and some public-interest groups have blasted the proposed program as a slush fund to reward the president's political supporters.

The DOJ announced May 18 it was offering $1.776 billion to "victims of lawfare and weaponization" as part of a settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Trump and his family against the IRS.

Questions about funds eligibility:

The fund spurred a backlash, even from some lawmakers in Trump’s Republican Party. Many expressed anger that rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, would receive taxpayer-funded payouts.

During a congressional hearing earlier this month, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not rule out the possibility that January 6 participants could be eligible, even if they attacked police.

Nearly 1,600 people were charged with federal crimes after the January 6 riot. More than 1,200 were convicted and sentenced before Trump handed out pardons, commuted prison sentences, and ordered the dismissal of every pending January 6 criminal case last year.

Questions have also arisen over whether public figures Trump targeted with investigations and criminal charges might also be eligible for payouts under the "anti-weaponization" fund.

The Anti-Weaponization Fund was created by the Justice Department as part of a settlement of Mr. Trump's civil lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns by a former government contractor.