The Trump administration will freeze the controversial anti-arms fund after the court ruling
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The US Department of Justice said on Monday it would comply with a court order that temporarily freezes a US fund of nearly 1.8 billion intended to compensate associates of US President Donald Trump, effectively agreeing to suspend the program for at least two weeks after obstacles in the courts – and a strong pushback from Republicans against possible payments to participants, on 201 Jan.
The announcement came after Friday's court decision by a federal judge in Virginia ruled that the fund's plans are on hold pending further arguments later this month. The Ministry said in a statement that it “strongly disagrees” with the decision but will follow it.
It is not clear from the statement, posted on social media, whether the Trump administration plans to reactivate the fund if a judge issues a restraining order, or whether it intends to permanently withdraw from its highly scrutinized program to compensate people who believe they have been unfairly targeted by the criminal justice system.
The Trump administration has defended the “Anti-Weapons Fund,” created to settle Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his tax evasion, as the right step to correct what officials insist was a law enforcement crackdown during the Biden administration.
The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the Anti-Arms Fund decision issued by a United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, in which the Court stated that, under any circumstances, may the Department of Justice continue…
—The Justice Dept
While some Trump supporters, including those who took part in the protest at the US Capitol, celebrated the fund announcement, the reaction of Republicans in Congress was considered more hostile. The senators pressed the acting attorney general of the United States Todd Blanche about this fund in a closed meeting last month where Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called it one of the “most difficult meetings I've seen in my entire time in the Senate.”
The future of this fund was questioned on Friday by several court decisions.
Hundreds of people have been prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 in Washington are planning to seek compensation from the Anti-Weaponization Fund of US President Donald Trump, as Trump rejects a growing contribution, including from his own party.
A single judge in Virginia has temporarily suspended its formation and scheduled a hearing for June 12 for arguments on whether to extend his order barring the government from moving forward with the fund pending its challenges.
“This fund is open to anyone who has been armed in this way, targeted or prosecuted, be it a Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise,” said the Department of Justice in a statement where it protested against the decision. “The Ministry will listen to the decision of the Court.”
Separately, the federal judge in Florida responsible for Trump's case against the IRS has ordered Trump's lawyers to respond to “severe allegations” by critics of the deal that the president abandoned his allegations to avoid court scrutiny of the illegal deal. US District Judge Kathleen Williams gave them until June 12 to respond in writing to the alleged collusion and whether the case should be reopened because the court was “a victim of fraud”.
