A federal judge in Virginia temporarily barred the Department of Justice from creating, funding, or paying out money from its Anti-Weaponization Fund as a lawsuit challenging the fund moves forward. The order by Judge Leonie Brinkema came after plaintiffs aske
For now, the Anti-Weaponization Fund is on pause.
On Friday. a federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked the Department of Justice from taking any further action to create. fund or spend money from its so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund while a lawsuit challenging it continues. The fund is designed to pay people who say they were harmed by what they describe as prosecutorial overreach by the DOJ during the Biden administration.
The dispute stems from what the DOJ announced earlier this month: the agency is creating a $1.8 billion fund as part of a settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against the Internal Revenue Service for the leak of his tax records by an IRS employee.
Critics have argued the program is being used to reward supporters. They have called it a “slush fund” for Trump allies, including people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Judge Leonie Brinkema’s order was explicit. She enjoined the DOJ from “taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization 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 timing mattered because the emergency request came from the plaintiffs in the case pending in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. They asked Brinkema for either a temporary restraining order against the fund or. alternatively. a preliminary injunction that would both halt the fund and set a schedule for faster briefing on whether it should be allowed to operate while the lawsuit proceeds.
Brinkema chose the second option. She ordered that the Trump administration file its opposition by June 5, and she scheduled a hearing on whether the block should remain in place for June 12.
In a pointed footnote. Brinkema wrote that “It is important that the status quo be maintained until plaintiffs’ pending Motion has been resolved.” She added that this was “especially” necessary after the plaintiffs alleged the DOJ’s lawyers were “ ‘unable … to provide assurances of how long [the] status quo would last’ ” and declined the plaintiffs’ request that the government commit not to transferring money to the Fund or processing or paying claims until at least June 19—an arrangement the plaintiffs sought to allow for less compressed briefing in the case.
A number of Trump allies have already said they want compensation from the fund.
The case is one of three federal lawsuits challenging the DOJ’s fund. The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Brinkema’s order.
The court now has a clear question to tackle by the June 12 hearing: whether the Anti-Weaponization Fund can continue operating while the underlying challenge plays out—or whether it will stay blocked until the judge decides the plaintiffs’ motion.
Anti-Weaponization Fund Department of Justice Leonie Brinkema Trump DOJ IRS tax records leak Alexandria Virginia court Jan. 6 riot slush fund lawsuit