DOJ drops $1.776 billion fund tied to Trump legal claims
What's new: A court filing said the program was never set up, undercutting a lawsuit seeking to block any transfer of federal money.
The Justice Department told a federal court Friday that its proposed $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund is no longer moving ahead. In a filing, DOJ lawyer Andrew Block said the fund "has not been set up and is now not going forward," and argued that a lawsuit challenging it should be dismissed as moot. The program had been created as part of an arrangement under which President Donald Trump agreed to drop claims against the IRS and civil claims tied to the Russia investigation and the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago. The plan drew bipartisan criticism over whether taxpayer money could be used to compensate Trump allies, including Jan. 6 defendants. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had also told lawmakers this week that DOJ was not proceeding with the fund.