Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration From Distributing ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’

A federal judge has blocked the Trump Administration from paying out any money from its recently announced $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”On Friday, a federal district court judge, Leonie Brinkema, issued an order that blocked the Trump Administration from “taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which includes the transferring of money to the Fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the Fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the Fund.”The order said the freeze is intended to “ensure that no funds are irreversibly disbursed.”Judge Brinkema scheduled a hearing for June 12 to decide whether to extend the block on the fund.The lawsuit was filed by a liberal advocacy organization, Democracy Forward, which argued there was no constitutional basis for the creation of the fund. The group raised concerns that there would be a lack of transparency surrounding the payouts.The complaint also asserts that the fund violates the First Amendment because it said it is “available to individuals who express views that are oppositional to, or perceived to be oppositional to, Democratic administrations, but not also available to individuals who express views oppositional to Republican administrations.”Last week, the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, said that the government would set up the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to “hear and redress claims” of individuals who “suffered weaponization and lawfare.”Mr. Blanche said the fund was being set up as part of the “agreement” that settled Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.The money for the new fund would be drawn from the Judgement Fund, which was created by Congress decades ago to pay federal court settlements. Those funds are only supposed to go to litigants who sued the government. Mr. Blanche said that the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will be administered by five commissioners who will evaluate the applications of individuals who claim they were victimized by weaponization. The Justice Department said there are “no partisan requirements to file a claim.”Democrats and Republicans have denounced the funds and expressed outrage that money could go to individuals who participated in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.A former Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, blasted the fund in a statement last week, saying, “So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick.”Democrats have called the pool of money a “slush fund.” Congressman Joe Neguse told MS NOW that it would “essentially reward people who are convicted of attacking police officers and subverting the peaceful transfer of power.”However, Congressman Byron Donalds, who is running for governor in Florida this year, defended the fund, telling Fox News, “The dollars are there because the IRS lost its case and they settled it because they did victimize the commander in chief.”“Instead of taking the money, they said put it into a fund for other people, and now everybody is losing their minds,” he said.Neither the White House nor the Justice Department responded to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration From Distributing ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’

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