Federal Judge Issues Block On Trump’s Anti-Weaponization Fund

President Donald Trump’s plan to give payouts to Jan. 6 Capitol rioters through an “anti-weaponization fund” has hit another roadblock after a federal judge temporarily blocked the Justice Department from moving forward on implementing the fund.  

According to NBC News, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia said in her order that the block was necessary to “ensure that no funds are irreversibly disbursed from the ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ while it’s the subject of several lawsuits.  Andrew Floyd, who headed a task force in the now-closed Capitol Siege Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, filed the lawsuit along with several nonprofits. 

Brinkema’s order prevents the Justice Department from taking any further action to establish the fund, “which includes the transferring of money to the fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the fund.” 

The $1.7 billion anti-weaponization fund was established as part of a settlement between Trump and the IRS in a lawsuit regarding Trump’s tax returns being leaked during an FBI investigation. The Justice Department has said that the fund is intended to “provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.” 

You know, I just kind of spent most of my 33 years on this planet thinking that storming the Capitol to overturn a free and fair election is something that would get someone arrested and/or fatally shot. I mean, to be fair, those things probably would have if the Capitol rioters looked like me and not the cast of Duck Dynasty. 

In a declaration tied to the lawsuit, Floyd said the fund “is gifting the people I helped investigate and prosecute after January 6” access to what he describes as an illegally created process designed to “rush money out the door to perceived political allies, while treating me and people like me as disfavored enemies.” 

Floyd was among dozens of law enforcement officials who were fired after Trump took office last year. “The president’s targeting of me and others involved in January 6 prosecutions leaves our country in a very dark place, sending a message that insurrection and sedition will be protected (and even encouraged) as long as it is on behalf of this administration,” Floyd wrote. 

Trump has spent much of his second term trying to rewrite history regarding the Capitol riot, even going so far as to issue blanket pardons to anyone who was sentenced for their role in the attempted insurrection. Trump’s anti-weaponization fund seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, as it’s spurred a rare degree of bipartisan outrage. 

In addition to Floyd’s lawsuit, the anti-weaponization fund is also the subject of a lawsuit filed by former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges, who both were part of the response to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Additionally, a bipartisan coalition of 35 former judges filed a motion asking a district court judge to investigate whether Trump’s settlement with the IRS constituted fraud in and of itself. Republicans in Congress have even punted a bill intended to fund ICE and Border Patrol over concerns about the anti-weaponization fund. 

In addition to the lawsuits, several states have already announced plans to levy a 100% state tax against any money received through the fund. Turns out using over a billion dollars of taxpayer money to pay out insurrectionists is deeply unpopular. Who could have guessed? 

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