WASHINGTON — A group of President Donald Trump’s opponents filed a federal lawsuit Friday seeking to halt distributions from a newly established $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund designed to compensate Trump supporters who claim they were targeted by government persecution.
The legal challenge intensifies growing opposition to the Trump administration’s establishment of the settlement fund, which emerged from the Republican president’s legal dispute with the Internal Revenue Service concerning the disclosure of his tax documents.
Lawyers representing the challengers from Democracy Forward, a legal advocacy organization, are requesting judicial intervention to stop the fund’s operation and block the Trump administration from making any payments through the program.
The group bringing the lawsuit includes a dismissed prosecutor and a college professor who was cleared of charges related to allegedly attacking federal agents during a demonstration.
Additionally, two law enforcement officers who participated in defending the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021 assault filed their own legal action this week aimed at preventing Capitol riot participants from accessing settlement payments.
When questioned during Tuesday’s congressional testimony, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to exclude the possibility that individuals who attacked police officers on January 6 might qualify for compensation from the settlement fund.
