WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ‘s allies who believe they were wrongly prosecuted by the Biden administration could soon have access to a $1.7 billion dollar compensation fund, the Justice Department announced Monday, in a move slammed by Democrats as unconstitutional and corrupt.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that the fund — dubbed the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” — will represent “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.” Blanche’s statement made no mention of how investigations and prosecutions of Trump’s political opponents under his watch have exposed the Justice Department to the same claims of politicized law enforcement that he said he opposed.The fund was announced as part of a deal to resolve Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.
The fund is in keeping with Trump’s long-running claims that the Justice Department during the Biden administration was weaponized against him, even though then-President Joe Biden himself was scrutinized during that time. The fund would represent not only a highly unorthodox resolution but also a further demonstration of the Trump administration’s eagerness to reward allies who were investigated and in some cases charged and convicted before Trump came to power.
