{"id":77868,"date":"2026-05-19T20:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T20:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/77868\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T20:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T20:13:09","slug":"congress-rips-trumps-1-776b-anti-weaponization-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/77868\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress rips Trump’s $1.776B Anti-Weaponization Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Republicans and Democrats in Congress are panning President Trump\u2019s more than $1.7 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund<\/a> that will allow \u201cvictims of lawfare\u201d \u2014 including former first son Hunter Biden \u2014 to receive cash payouts.<\/p>\n

While Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged that it was \u201cunusual\u201d but \u201cnot unprecedented,\u201d several Republicans came out publicly against the $1.776 billion settlement<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, not a big fan,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters. \u201cI\u2019m not sure exactly how they intend to use it. \u2026 I don\u2019t see a purpose for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, not a big fan,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters. \u201cI\u2019m not sure exactly how they intend to use it. \u2026 I don\u2019t see a purpose for it.\u201d AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite<\/p>\n

The agreement concludes a federal suit from Trump and his sons Don Jr. and Eric against the US Treasury and Internal Revenue Service for leaking the Trump Organization\u2019s tax returns, though none of the first family members will receive payments.<\/p>\n

In exchange, the Trumps will withdraw claims related to the FBI\u2019s probe into collusion between the president\u2019s 2016 campaign and Russia as well as the bureau\u2019s August 2022 raid of his Mar-a-Lago estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never heard of someone negotiating with themselves and making a plea bargain with themselves, so I think there\u2019s no precedent for it,\u201d Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) quipped of the settlement to NOTUS<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Blanche, Vice President JD Vance and others have pushed back, noting that the fund is open to victims of politicized prosecutions from all sides of the political spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans can apply for it. Democrats can apply for it,\u201d Vance told reporters at a White House briefing Tuesday. \u201cIf Hunter Biden wants to apply for this particular fund, he is welcome to.\u201d <\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance and others have pushed back, noting that the fund is open to victims of politicized prosecutions from all sides of the political spectrum. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Hunter Biden\u2019s attorney declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, who is in the middle of a legal fight with the DC Bar over a possible revocation of his law license related to advice he gave Trump related to 2020 election interference, said in a statement that he expects to be made \u201cwhole for my damages<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Details about who would immediately qualify remained sparse. The vice president indicated that Tina Peters, a Trump ally who was recently pardoned for granting unauthorized access to voting machines in 2021<\/a>, would be in line for compensation \u2014 though she was convicted in a state court.<\/p>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche acknowledged that the settlement was \u201cunusual\u201d but \u201cnot unprecedented.\u201d REUTERS<\/p>\n

Vance also suggested that those pardoned for federal crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot would be eligible on a case-by-case basis, refusing to rule out violent offenders\u2019 eligibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump pardoned violent insurrectionists who assaulted YOUR Capitol to overturn YOUR votes,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) fumed in an X post<\/a> Monday. \u201cAnd now he wants to give them YOUR hard-earned tax dollars as a reward.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a combative appearance on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Blanche stressed that five commissioners will be appointed by the AG to oversee how the money is doled out, but was noncommittal about whether Trump could have input over who becomes a commissioner.<\/p>\n

Several Republicans came out publicly against the president\u2019s $1.776 billion settlement on Tuesday. AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein<\/p>\n

\u201cHas the DOJ ever used amounts in the judgment fund to pay claims that have yet to be brought against the United States government, based on the settlement of a completely unrelated case?\u201d asked Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) during an appropriations hearing Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe short answer is yes,\u201d Blanche responded. \u201cThis was done during the Obama administration, something almost identical in structure to what we announced yesterday. In that case, there were allegations made by Native Americans that the Department of Agriculture had systematically, treated them unfairly and some had filed claims there was a pending lawsuit, but many had not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA fund very similar to the one that was established yesterday was set up. I mean, it was funded by in today\u2019s dollars, a little over $1 billion,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that this is unusual. That is true. But it is not unprecedented. And it was done to address something that had never happened again either,\u201d Blanche said. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Democrats also repeatedly grilled Blanche over whether or not violent Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters could get lofty payouts from the taxpayer-funded compensation program.<\/p>\n

Blanche refused to rule that out as well, deferring to the yet-to-be-named commissioners, and said that the fund will be open to anyone wronged by the government, regardless of political affiliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that this is unusual. That is true. But it is not unprecedented. And it was done to address something that had never happened again either,\u201d Blanche said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a very gifted lawyer,\u201d Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) told Blanche, \u201cbut from my perspective, you have very little faith to the Constitution and the people of America.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a very gifted lawyer,\u201d Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) told Blanche, \u201cbut from my perspective, you have very little faith to the Constitution and the people of America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Murray (D-Wash.) fumed to the acting AG that the fund \u201cis nothing short of the sitting president of the United States looting from the Treasury for his own gain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is corruption that has never been more blatant or more bright,\u201d Murray shot back. \u201cBut what is happening is you write the check. Trump and his cronies cash [it].\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate panel, zeroed in on how Blanche previously served as Trump\u2019s defense attorney during prosecutions that led up to the 2024 election.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are acting today like the president\u2019s personal attorney. And that\u2019s the whole problem,\u201d the Maryland Democrat chastised.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a whole banner of his face hanging over the Department of Justice, and you and everybody else walks under it, and you are acting like you\u2019re his current personal attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 Republicans and Democrats in Congress are panning President Trump\u2019s more than $1.7 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[142],"tags":[477,13578,12,168,475,14496,51,6178,48],"class_list":["post-77868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-john-thune","tag-congress","tag-department-of-justice","tag-donald-trump","tag-jd-vance","tag-john-thune","tag-legal-fees","tag-politics","tag-todd-blanche","tag-us-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116603073504287758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}