House Speaker Mike Johnson insisted he doesn’t know who will benefit from President Donald Trump’s new $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” even as top Trump officials said Jan. 6 rioters would be eligible. For people already seeking compensation, the silen
WASHINGTON — Mike Johnson faced a simple question on Wednesday: should people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection expect payouts from the new $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” President Donald Trump created by settling his own lawsuit with his own Justice Department.
The House speaker’s answer was a blur of uncertainty. “We don’t know any of the details of that settlement fund,” Johnson said.
He went on to describe the administration’s effort as something broader than the Jan. 6 cases. saying. “They are setting up a fund to compensate all Americans who have been subject to the target of lawfare or weaponization of the federal government.” Johnson added. “That’s not a partisan proposition. either. Everybody should support that.” Then, when pressed on who would qualify, he did not say.
Asked specifically by CNN’s Manu Raju whether Jan. 6 rioters should be eligible for payouts, Johnson said he wouldn’t comment on that. The exchange landed amid a public push from Trump allies who. just a day earlier. had appeared to remove much of the mystery. Vice President JD Vance and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that Jan. 6 rioters would be eligible for payouts from the fund.
In Washington, the gap between those statements and Johnson’s refusal to engage became the story.
One Jan. 6 rioter, Thomas Smith, said that uncertainty is exactly what has fueled his focus. Smith’s nine-year prison sentence for assaulting police was cut short by Trump’s pardon. On Wednesday. he told MISRYOUM Politics News that he believes the new fund was set up with people like him in mind—and that he and other J6ers have been talking with attorneys about how to apply.
“We should all be taken care of, for sure,” Smith said. “We were told back in the beginning that what was happening to us was unjust, it was unconstitutional, and that we would be taken care of before this was all said and done.”
Smith is not starting from scratch. He is one of hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters who have already filed an administrative claim with the Justice Department seeking compensation for alleged mistreatment.
The language of the settlement agreement that establishes the fund adds another layer to the question of eligibility. The text says the attorney general will set up a five-member commission to create a “systematic process” to hear and redress claims of mistreatment by the government under President Joe Biden.
The agreement also specifies that “a claimant who already has a claim pending in court or administrative proceedings may be eligible for relief,” language that Smith and others see as pointing directly at their situation.
“The fact of the matter is, the real weaponization happened to the citizens that actually went and stood up for ourselves on Jan. 6 and were attacked by police,” Smith said.
Smith said he was encouraged by Vance’s remarks during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday. In response to questions from reporters, Vance said the commission would consider claims by people who’d attacked police in January 2021.
“We have people accused of attacking law enforcement officers — that doesn’t mean that we’re going to completely ignore some of the claims they’re going to make,” Vance said. “If we think somebody was unfairly prosecuted and deserves just compensation, it’s going to correct a wrong.”
Johnson’s public posture has contrasted with that clarity. The speaker’s stance also clashes with his past remarks: Johnson previously told HuffPost he didn’t believe pardoned insurrectionists should receive compensation.
In Congress, the fund has already drawn skepticism from Republicans on the other side of the Capitol. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he is “not a big fan” of the settlement fund and that the administration must answer questions about it.
Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) took a sharper tone, pointing to comments reportedly made by former Justice Department official Ed Martin, one of the biggest supporters of Jan. 6 defendants in the Trump administration, who told a confidant that rioters would get millions, according to NBC News.
“Imagine that: a fund that is set up to compensate people who assaulted Capitol police officers and other responding agencies,” Tillis told reporters. “How absurd does that sound coming out of my mouth?”
Taken together, the sequence is stark: Vice President JD Vance and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that Jan. 6 rioters would be eligible. the settlement agreement lays out a commission and eligibility language aimed at people with pending claims. and Thomas Smith—whose own sentence was shortened by Trump’s pardon—has already moved toward applying. Yet Johnson. in a direct moment of questioning Wednesday. acted as if the details were beyond his reach. refusing to say who should qualify.
Johnson’s maneuver leaves people like Smith watching for answers that officials have already implied would come. And it leaves lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pressing on the same basic point: whether the fund’s reach matches the promises that have been made publicly—before the commission ever begins hearing claims.
Mike Johnson JD Vance Todd Blanche Anti-Weaponization Fund Trump lawsuit settlement Jan. 6 rioters Capitol police administrative claim House Speaker Justice Department Senate Majority Leader John Thune Thom Tillis Ed Martin Thomas Smith