anti-weaponization fund – President Donald Trump again said he has not dropped plans to use taxpayer money to reimburse people connected to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, even after acting attorney general Todd Blanche told Congress the administration was not moving forward with the so
On Wednesday, as a clip of his remarks circulated online, President Donald Trump was asked a blunt question about the fate of the “anti-weaponization fund” — a plan tied to reimbursing people he has described as mistreated by prior federal administrations.
“Have you dropped that?” New York Post columnist Miranda Devine asked Trump during an interview posted online Wednesday.
“No,” Trump replied, “A court ruled against it.”
Trump then escalated his case for reimbursement, saying of Jan. 6. 2021 Capitol riot defendants that “These are people that lost their lives over nonsense.” He added that “They were supposed to serve five years. 10 years. in jail. People committed suicide. … And these were many great people. I gave them pardons, and I’m very proud to have given them pardons.”.
“I think,” Trump added, “they should be reimbursed for a crooked government.”
Trump did not explain whether the administration would pursue the previously announced anti-weaponization fund or replace it with a different mechanism to reimburse the people he referenced.
The exchange landed on the heels of testimony delivered the day earlier by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at a congressional oversight hearing. Blanche said three times at the hearing, “We are not moving forward with the fund.”
A White House official. speaking on background. said both Trump and the acting attorney general were acknowledging the court’s role in stopping the creation of the fund. The official did not outline what. if anything. would follow from Trump’s public insistence that he still wants to pursue reimbursement.
The Department of Justice announced the fund’s creation as part of a settlement the Internal Revenue Service reached to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed last year over an earlier unauthorized disclosure of his tax returns. Under that settlement. the IRS and DOJ agreed to establish a $1.776 billion fund to compensate people it says were victimized by prior federal government actions.
Bipartisan opposition to the fund emerged in Congress after Blanche and Trump officials declined to rule out using taxpayer funds to compensate people convicted of violently assaulting officers on Jan. 6. In the middle of that political fight. Trump has continued to frame the issue as one of government abuse. even as Blanche told lawmakers the administration was not moving forward with the plan.
Donald Trump Jan. 6 anti-weaponization fund Todd Blanche Department of Justice Internal Revenue Service taxpayer money reimbursements IRS lawsuit court ruling U.S. Congress
Taxpayers paying for rioters again? How is that even legal.
I saw a clip and I’m just like… court ruled no and he still goes “no” anyway. Also “people lost their lives over nonsense”?? They were in the Capitol, that’s not nonsense.
So Blanche says not moving forward, but Trump says “court ruled against it” which sounds like he’s saying it’ll happen later? I don’t know. Isn’t this the same thing as that $10 billion tax return lawsuit or whatever, like they created a fund to settle it and now they’re mad about it.
“Anti-weaponization fund” sounds like propaganda wording lol. But I’m also confused because he said he gave pardons and he’s proud like that automatically means taxpayers should reimburse. If people committed suicide after getting convicted, that doesn’t mean it’s “crooked government,” that’s just wild to say. Next thing you know they’ll blame the IRS for everything.