On Tuesday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified that the DOJ would not move forward with plans for the fund, which was intended to compensate people who claimed to have been targeted by the “weaponization” of President Joe Biden’s government. It was the first time that an official publicly confirmed the DOJ would scrap the fund entirely after backlash from both Republicans and Democrats over concerns that it would serve as a “slush fund” for Trump’s allies and supporters, including those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Legal experts also said the fund lacked a clear legal basis, with no judicial review or congressional oversight.
The fund was part of a controversial settlement of Trump’s $10 billion civil lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the 2019 leak of his tax returns by a former contractor.
Still, Blanche told Meng that he was not “committing to putting anything in writing” to rescind, amend, or reissue the DOJ’s May 18 press release announcing the fund.
“I don’t know what the purpose of putting something in writing. I’m telling you what we’re doing,” Blanche said.
A bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges filed a motion in late May asking a federal judge in Miami to reopen the settlement case and review whether the fund was “a product of collusion and is itself a fraud on the court.” The settlement was not made public until after U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, who oversaw the lawsuit, agreed to dismiss the case on May 18.
Pushback against the fund from both Republicans and Democrats grew after Trump officials refused to rule out payments to Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police officers. Vice President J.D. Vance said last month that the Administration would consider compensating Jan. 6 defendants on a “case-by-case basis.” Blanche had also said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on May 19 that “anybody can apply” for compensation through the fund.
The White House also published a page on its website describing defendants as “unfairly targeted, overcharged, and used as political examples” and characterizing the attack as a security failure by the Democrats. The page also repeated claims of a “fraud-ridden election,” which have been widely discredited.
Republican opposition to the fund stalled progress on a $70 billion funding package for immigration enforcement agencies, which Democrats are universally opposed to.
Still, several Republicans said they needed to hear a clear promise to abandon the fund before they would move forward with the bill. Senate Republican leaders are now pushing for a vote on the bill as soon as Wednesday, sources told CNN.
Protections from I.R.S. audits remains
The tax term was scrutinized by Democrats at Tuesday’s hearing.
Blanche defended the tax term, which had been included in an addendum to the DOJ’s announcement of the fund and not separately announced.
DeLauro, however, said the term exempted Trump “from any accountability.”
“If the President, his associates, and family members were innocent of whatever they were being investigated for, the investigation would surely bear that out,” she said. “But now we will never know.”
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