US judge freezes Trump 'slush fund' for allies

A US federal judge has temporarily blocked the White House from moving ahead with a $1.8 billion compensation package that critics have denounced as a "slush fund" for President Donald Trump's political allies.

US District Judge Leonie Brinkema barred the administration from taking any further action to create or operate the fund while she considers whether to impose a longer-lasting pause.

Her order blocks the transfer of money into the fund, the consideration of claims and the disbursement of any payments, saying the freeze was needed to ensure that no money was "irreversibly disbursed" before the legal challenge is heard.

The decision is another setback for one of Mr Trump's most politically explosive second-term initiatives, which has already alarmed Democrats, legal experts and some Republicans in Congress.

The fund was created by the Justice Department as part of an extraordinary settlement of Mr Trump's civil lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns by a former government contractor.

The administration says the program is intended to compensate people who suffered from government "weaponisation" and "lawfare" - Mr Trump's terms for what he says was the politically motivated targeting of conservatives and his supporters.

But opponents say the fund has no clear legal basis, little public oversight and could be used to reward loyalists, including defendants convicted of crimes related to the 6 January 2021 assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.

Judge Brinkema's brief order came after a lawsuit by a group of plaintiffs including Andrew Floyd, a former federal prosecutor who investigated and prosecuted the 6 January defendants, and Jonathan Caravello, a California professor arrested while protesting an immigration raid.

They argued that the fund amounted to a "collusive agreement" between Mr Trump and his administration, with "no congressional authorisation, no basis in law, and no accountability".

The judge set a 12 June hearing to consider whether the government's work on the fund should remain frozen for longer.

'Partisan propaganda'

There was no immediate response to the ruling from Mr Trump or the Justice Department.

The fund's formal application process had not yet begun. A five-member board is expected to decide who receives compensation and how much they are paid, but the Justice Department has not announced the commissioners or detailed the criteria they would use.

People claiming they were unfairly targeted by the government have already sought payments, however, according to US media.

Mr Floyd, who previously worked in the now-closed Capitol Siege Section of the US attorney's office in Washington, accused the administration of trying to rush money to political allies while punishing those who investigated them.

The administration "is gifting the people I helped investigate and prosecute after January 6" access to an illegally created process, he wrote in a declaration.

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Trump slush fund stokes threat of Republican revolt

Mr Trump, on his first day back in office last year, granted clemency to more than 1,500 people convicted over the Capitol assault, when his supporters attacked Congress in an effort to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

The administration has also begun removing Justice Department press releases about 6 January prosecutions, calling them "partisan propaganda".

"We will do everything in our power to make whole those who were persecuted for political purposes," a Justice Department social media account said last week.

But the fund has become politically toxic even among some Republicans.

Senate Republican leaders last week postponed a vote on a major bill funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol partly because of concerns that the fund could allow 6 January defendants to receive taxpayer money.

The lawsuit before Judge Brinkema is one of several legal challenges seeking to stop the fund, including cases brought by law enforcement officers who clashed with rioters and by government oversight groups.