The US President has pitched setting up an “Anti-Weaponization Fund” for those allegedly targeted by the American federal government
Democrat-led US states are considering imposing a 100% tax on payouts by a $1.8 billion fund set up by US President Donald Trump for victims of attempts to weaponize the legal and political system against them.
Trump and his allies have long claimed to have been subjected to politically motivated investigations and prosecutions during the Biden administration, including the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the probe into his supposed ties with Moscow, and other criminal cases.
Trump’s team has presented the ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ as part of a broader effort to compensate people allegedly mistreated by the federal government.
However, critics have described Trump’s proposal as a “slush fund,” with Colorado Senator Michael Bennet calling it a “corrupt theft of taxpayer dollars” in an interview with the Washington Post on Sunday.
A US federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s administration from setting up the fund on Friday.
What is the fund?
The ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ is a $1.776 billion pool of federal money intended to compensate people who claim they were victims of government lawfare and were targeted for political, personal, or ideological reasons.
The Justice Department (DOJ) created it earlier this month as part of a settlement ending Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax records. The sum is a symbolic reference to 1776, the year of the US Declaration of Independence.
History of ‘lawfare’ against Trump
The announcement of the fund comes after years of Trump describing the criminal investigations against him and his supporters as politically motivated “weaponization” of the justice system, which was a central theme of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Examples cited by Trump’s camp include the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago over classified documents, the years-long investigation into the now-debunked Russia collusion, prosecutions related to the January 6 Capitol riot, and the leak of Trump’s tax records by former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn.
The administration has also pointed to cases involving lesser-known Trump supporters like 70-year-old former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, who was imprisoned in 2024 over an attempt to uncover evidence of voter fraud.
Vice President J.D. Vance has said it would be “reasonable” for Peters to “get some compensation” from the Anti-Weaponization Fund, arguing that her sentence was “completely disproportionate.”
Who decides who gets paid?
The fund would be overseen by a five-member commission. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s defense attorney, is expected to appoint most of its members.
The commission will be able to authorize payments to claimants who show they were illegally targeted by the federal government, issue apologies, or request more information from claimants and federal agencies.
The DOJ has said there are no partisan restrictions on eligibility. A senior administration official told the New York Post that anyone can apply, including Democrats, January 6 defendants, or even former US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.
Why are critics angry?
Opponents have described the arrangement as a taxpayer-funded “slush fund” that could benefit Trump allies, including people connected to the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rt.com
