A federal judge maintained a block on the Department of Justice’s $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund Friday, despite the DOJ claiming they have abandoned the planned fund aimed at compensating allies of President Donald Trump and others who say they were politically targeted by the DOJ during the Biden administration.U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, extended a block on the fund she issued two weeks ago, which was set to expire Friday. Brinkema said during a hearing in a federal courtroom in Virginia Friday that she was unconvinced by public statements from DOJ officials insisting the fund is dead, according to the Associated Press.“The (government’s) mootness argument, in my view, doesn’t go anywhere,” Brinkema said during a Friday hearing.
Brinkema also gave both sides a week to negotiate an agreement in which acting Attorney General Todd Blanche would sign a sworn declaration affirming that the fund will not be revived.
The DOJ had argued to Brinkema that the case was now moot, after Blanche and other officials had publicly said, including in testimony to Congress, they would not move forward with the controversial fund, which received pushback from both Democrats and Republicans.
