$1.7 billion in taxpayer money, no court oversight: Trump’s new DOJ fund draws bipartisan fire

The Trump administration just created a $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded account for political allies — and broke a promise to give it to charity in the process.

The Justice Department on Monday announced the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” resolving Mr. Trump’s lawsuit over the leak of his confidential tax returns — the same leak that revealed he paid just $750 in federal income taxes his first year in the White House.

In February, Mr. Trump suggested any damages would go to charity. “We could make it a substantial amount,” he said. “Nobody would care because it’s going to go to numerous very good charities.” Instead, the money will flow through a DOJ-controlled fund with no guaranteed court oversight.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called it “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.” But the fund fits a broader pattern — alongside Jan. 6 pardons, Russia probe payouts and new prosecutions of political opponents — of Mr. Trump using the Justice Department to reward allies and punish enemies.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called it “nothing but a racket designed to take $1.7 billion of taxpayer dollars out of the Treasury and pour it into a huge slush fund for Trump.”

Democracy Forward president Skye Perryman called the case “always a sham, and another ploy by the President to access taxpayer funds to line his pockets.” Her group vowed to keep fighting. A coalition of 93 members of Congress has already filed a legal brief challenging the arrangement.

Read more:

• Justice Department announces a $1.7B fund to compensate Trump allies in a deal to drop IRS suit

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