Trump sued over $1.8B fund

Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges sued President Donald Trump on Wednesday to block a new $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created through a Justice Department settlement. Their complaint, filed in federal district court in Washington, says the fund could steer taxpayer money to people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and to other Trump allies who claim they were targeted by the government. The lawsuit came two days after the Justice Department said the fund was part of a settlement of Trump’s lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns. The department’s May 18 order said the United States would send $1.776 billion within 60 days to a designated account for the fund’s sole use, and said the money could also cover administration, staff, travel and other support services. (politico.com) ### Who is suing, and what are they asking a judge to stop? Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges are the two plaintiffs. Politico reported that both officers argue Trump intends to use the fund to compensate people who organized or took part in the Capitol riot, and that the program should be halted before any money is paid out. (justice.gov) The complaint says the fund violates the 14th Amendment’s bar on paying debts or obligations incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States. The officers also argue the Justice Department lacks statutory authority to create the fund at all. ### How was the fund created? The Justice Department tied the fund to Trump’s tax-return leak case against the Internal Revenue Service. (politico.com) In its May 18 order, the department said the settlement agreement in *Trump v. Internal Revenue Service* required the attorney general to establish funding and related rules for the new program. The same order cites the federal Judgment Fund statute, 31 U.S.C. § 1304, as the legal basis for payment. (politico.com) Axios reported that the arrangement effectively turns Trump’s personal settlement into a government compensation program funded without a separate congressional appropriation. That is Axios’s characterization; the Justice Department says the structure follows “longstanding authorities.” (justice.gov) ### Who could receive money? Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has defended the fund as a vehicle to compensate people who suffered “weaponization” and “lawfare,” according to multiple reports. The Justice Department order says the fund’s principal is based not on Trump’s own claims, but on the projected value of future claimants’ claims. PBS, citing the officers’ lawsuit and Blanche’s congressional testimony, reported that Blanche did not rule out Jan. 6 rioters receiving payouts. (axios.com) The same report said a five-member commission appointed by the attorney general would decide claims. Politico also quoted Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward saying it was “way, way, way too early” to call the fund a slush fund because no claim had yet been filed and no payment had been made. (justice.gov) ### What is Congress doing? Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at blocking the fund. Axios reported that Raskin’s bill targets the use of federal settlement money for the new program, and said some Republicans had also criticized the fund. In a separate spending fight on Wednesday, Senator John Kennedy said Senate Republicans had dropped a proposal to spend $1 billion on a planned White House ballroom and related security measures from a $72 billion immigration enforcement bill. (pbs.org) Kennedy said there was not enough support in the chamber for the request. (axios.com) ### What happens next? The Washington lawsuit is likely to turn first on whether Dunn and Hodges have standing to sue. Politico reported that the Justice Department is expected to argue they do not. The next formal steps are a court response from the administration in the Washington case and House consideration of Raskin’s legislation. (usnews.com) The Justice Department’s May 18 order also sets a 60-day window for the Treasury payment to the designated fund account unless the courts or Congress intervene. (justice.gov) (politico.com)