Todd Blanche Says Trump Administration Scraps $1.8bn Anti-Weaponization Fund

Acting attorney general Todd Blanche told a House appropriations committee hearing that the Trump administration is abandoning an effort to create a $1.8bn “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate Donald Trump’s allies, saying, “We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” and he added that the Justice Department would continue granting immunity to Trump and his family members on tax matters before an agreement reached last month.

Blanche said the fund was tied to a long-shot $10bn lawsuit filed by Trump against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, and the agreements were reached to resolve that dispute while maintaining an agreement that prohibits the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from auditing Trump, his family and related entities.

ABC News

The Guardian reported that the fund was described as a $1.776bn discretionary account, and it said the administration was abandoning the fund while maintaining the anti-audit provision.

NPR reported that Blanche said the DOJ will uphold the rest of the settlement, including provisions that shielded Trump, his family and his companies from any tax audits or enforcement for prior tax returns, and that the fund was scrapped after a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia temporarily blocked its creation.

The Alexandria Brief, citing Blanche’s remarks at a House hearing, reported that Rep. Grace Meng asked, “Not moving forward, ever?” and Blanche answered, “Correct,” as the fund faced setbacks in the courts and a fierce political backlash that had threatened to stall key elements of the White House agenda.

USA Today said Blanche told lawmakers the Justice Department would not move forward with President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund,” and it described the fund as one that could have paid people convicted of assaulting police during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

AP News

CBS News reported that the Justice Department said it would stop work on the $1.8 billion after a district judge’s decision temporarily blocked the establishment of the program, and it quoted the DOJ’s statement that “under no circumstances, may the Department of Justice proceed with the Anti-Weaponization Fund.”

CNN reported that Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, “We are subject to the courts,” and it said a federal judge set a hearing for June 12 to hear arguments over whether she should issue a longer pause, while barring the Justice Department from allocating money to create the fund.

Even as Blanche said the fund is done, the sources described continuing stakes in the settlement’s tax protections and the possibility of further legal scrutiny, with CNBC reporting that Trump, his family members and related business entities remain protected from tax audits and enforcement actions in connection with tax returns filed before last month’s out-of-court settlement.

CNBC also reported that Blanche testified that he personally signed off on the DOJ’s May 19 addendum to the settlement and that the addendum bars the DOJ from prosecuting Trump and the others for cases that would be based on “Lawfare and/or Weaponization,” while Blanche told Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., “We are not moving forward with the fund, period.”

The Guardian said European fashion retailers and brands were facing scrutiny after the Narayanganj garment factory fire, but in the U.S. context the AP reported that Trump tried to create a near $1.8 billion fund to settle a lawsuit he filed against the IRS, and that the White House is reconsidering the fund as a result of congressional and court outcry.

The AP also reported that the Justice Department now says it will comply with a ruling temporarily blocking the fund, while it noted that there was less clamor about another part of the deal allowing the government to drop pending IRS audits into Trump and his relatives, keeping attention on what protections remain even after the fund is abandoned.