The Justice Department announced on Monday a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that could help compensate Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot defendants and allies of President Donald Trump who say they were politically targeted during the Biden administration.The fund, announced in a DOJ press release Monday morning, was created as part of a settlement resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his confidential tax records.Under the agreement, Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization will receive no direct financial damages. Instead, the plaintiffs agreed to dismiss their lawsuit with prejudice in exchange for the DOJ establishing a formal claims process for alleged victims of “lawfare” and political weaponization.
“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the use of federal power “to target individuals or entities for improper and unlawful political, personal, or ideological reasons should not be tolerated by any administration.”
