WASHINGTON — A massive $1.7 billion compensation program has been established by the Justice Department to provide financial relief to supporters of President Donald Trump who claim they faced unfair prosecution during the previous administration, officials announced Monday. Democratic leaders are condemning the initiative as both unconstitutional and corrupt.
In a statement, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche described the program — called the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” — as providing “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.” Blanche’s announcement did not address how investigations and prosecutions of Trump’s political opponents under his oversight have subjected the Justice Department to identical accusations of politically motivated law enforcement that he claims to oppose.
The compensation program emerged from an agreement to settle Trump’s $10 billion legal action against the Internal Revenue Service concerning the disclosure of his tax documents.
This initiative aligns with Trump’s persistent assertions that the Justice Department under the Biden administration was used as a weapon against him, despite the fact that then-President Joe Biden himself faced scrutiny during that period. The program represents both an extremely unusual settlement approach and another example of the Trump administration’s willingness to compensate supporters who faced investigations and, in some instances, charges and convictions prior to Trump assuming office.
Democratic legislators, who are preparing a court challenge to this action, contend it will become a taxpayer-funded “slush fund” for Trump supporters and allies claiming political persecution. They also raise concerns about whether the president should have authority to allocate funds for this program without explicit congressional authorization.
Here’s what you need to understand about this compensation program:
The program was revealed after Trump and his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., along with the Trump Organization agreed to withdraw their legal action against the IRS and the Treasury Department. Their lawsuit claimed that confidential tax record disclosures caused them reputational and financial damage and harmed their public image, among other claims.
Based on the Justice Department’s announcement, the program aims to establish a formal procedure for individuals or organizations claiming they were inappropriately targeted by the government for political, ideological or personal motivations.
“The use of government power to target individuals or entities for improper and unlawful political, personal, or ideological reasons should not be tolerated by any administration,” Justice Department official Trent McCotter stated in the announcement.
The funding will originate from the federal judgment fund, which covers court judgments and settlement agreements in lawsuits against the government.
According to the Justice Department, the program will evaluate claims of alleged government political targeting, provide formal apologies and distribute monetary compensation to qualifying applicants.
The allegations of a weaponized Justice Department during the Biden administration ignore the reality that President Joe Biden himself faced investigation for potentially mishandling classified information, while his son Hunter faced charges for gun and tax violations.
The Justice Department has not specified by name who might theoretically qualify for the program, but numerous investigations of Trump supporters during the Biden administration created potential beneficiaries seeking compensation.
Law enforcement officials, for example, filed charges against approximately 1,500 individuals related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. On his first day of his second term, Trump either pardoned these individuals, reduced their prison terms or dismissed their cases.
Whether compensation eligibility would extend to Jan. 6 defendants convicted of assaulting officers with improvised weapons including flagpoles, a hockey stick and crutch remains uncertain. Over 250 individuals received assault convictions, with the attacks often documented on surveillance or body camera recordings.
Additional prominent Trump supporters who faced investigation and charges include Steve Bannon, who completed a prison term for defying a congressional subpoena, and Peter Navarro, who received a similar contempt conviction and later received a pardon.
The Justice Department states the program will obtain $1.776 billion from the federal judgment fund, operating until Dec. 15, 2028, under supervision of a five-member commission selected by Blanche, with one member chosen after consulting with congressional leadership. The Justice Department notes the president maintains removal authority over any member.
The commission’s methodology for determining compensation awards remains unclear.
The Justice Department references previous settlement cases as authorization for this program — including litigation involving Keepseagle v. Vilsack — a significant 1999 class-action lawsuit filed against the USDA by Native American farmers alleging that the USDA discriminated against Native American farmworkers by refusing them farm loans while approving comparable loans for white applicants.
“The Obama Administration settled the case by establishing an administrative claims process funded by $680,000,000 paid from the judgment fund, which was deposited into a bank account to fund the claims received,” the Justice Department stated.
Democratic legislators and ethics monitors strongly criticized the program’s creation — describing it as corrupt, lacking transparency and potentially becoming a “slush fund” for the president and his supporters.
Nearly 100 congressional members filed a brief initiating a legal challenge to the case.
“This case is 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 at DOJ to hand out to his private militia of insurrectionists, rioters, and white supremacists, including those who brutally beat police officers on January 6, 2021, and sycophant accomplices to his election stealing schemes,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, stated.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., described the program as “corruption on steroids.”
Last month, she and other Democratic legislators introduced the Ban Presidential Plunder of Taxpayer Funds Act, which would prohibit the sitting president and vice president from receiving settlement payments from the U.S., among other provisions.
