Trump's week in review: E. Jean Carroll investigation; ‘anti-weaponization’ fund blocked; Iran ceasefire
3. Judge temporarily blocks estimated $1.8B 'anti-weaponization' fund for Trump allies
A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration fund of nearly $1.8 billion that was created to benefit people who say they were victims of government “lawfare.”
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Virginia, issued a temporary block on “the Anti-Weaponization Fund,” with a hearing scheduled for June 12 to determine whether the block will continue.
The lawsuit challenging the fund was filed by two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, in which large numbers of Trump supporters attempted to stop certification of the 2020 presidential election.
“These people don't deserve restitution,” U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said, according to The National News Desk. “They, many of them, deserve to be in prison. Some of them deserve the pardon because they were overprosecuted, but this is, uh, I mean this is just stupid on stilts.”
For his part, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the fund, saying in a statement earlier this month that it was “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”
“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,” Blanche stated.
