Republican strategist Michael Caputo on Tuesday became the first known person to make a claim to the Justice Department’s new “anti-weaponization” fund. Caputo worked on President Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2024 campaigns and served in the Department of Health and Human Services during the president’s first term, before becoming entangled in the lengthy federal investigation into whether Trump’s team colluded with Russia during the 2016 campaign. Trump’s former senior adviser maintained his innocence during then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, and moved this week to take advantage of the new $1.8 billion DOJ fund, which acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said seeks to compensate individuals who the Justice Department has wrongly targeted. Caputo is seeking $2.7 million in restitution and reimbursement after saying he was wrongly targeted during Mueller’s controversial “Crossfire” investigation.
“Some Russiagate remnants have been concerned about the President’s commitment to accountability and restitution,” Caputo told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. “As a weaponization policy advisor in his 2024 campaign, I’ve never stopped believing, and our family is really pleased to see this execution under the leadership of Acting Attorney General Blanche.”
