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Blanche Rescinds Fund for Trump Allies 08/03 06:24
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal order late Sunday
terminating President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" to
compensate his political allies, a move that follows weeks of negotiations with
two Republican senators who were blocking his nomination to become attorney
general.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal
order late Sunday terminating President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion
"anti-weaponization fund" to compensate his political allies, a move that
follows weeks of negotiations with two Republican senators who were blocking
his nomination to become attorney general.
A spokeswoman for Texas Sen. John Cornyn, one of the senators holding up
Blanche's nomination, confirmed the deal, which comes ahead of a Tuesday
confirmation vote for Blanche's nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The other GOP senator, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, did not have immediate
comment.
Blanche said at a June hearing that the Justice Department would not move
forward with the fund to compensate those who believe they were unfairly
prosecuted, as he faced bipartisan outrage over the possibility that violent
rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be
considered for payments. But Cornyn and Tillis, both members of the Judiciary
panel, have said they wanted to see the promise in writing before they endorsed
Blanche's nomination -- especially as Trump continued to express support for
the idea.
In a statement, Blanche said the order came after "good faith discussions."
"My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past
several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions," Blanche
said.
DOJ order says 'beyond any doubt' that fund is dead
In a statement accompanying the order, the Justice Department said that
"although the Acting Attorney General has repeatedly advised Congress through
testimony, including under oath, as well as in written responses, that the Fund
is not moving forward, and the Department has repeatedly represented to
district courts that the Fund is not moving forward, today's Order officially
rescinds the May 18, 2026 Order."
Since the settlement of the president's lawsuit against the IRS was
announced, "No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process
for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid," the order says.
"This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."
The document released by Blanche on Sunday night also limits the scope of
another provision of the settlement that provided broad immunity for Trump and
members of his family from tax audits.
The deal clarifies that the tax audit immunity agreement "applies by its
terms only retroactively" to claims open at the time of the settlement and does
not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.
Cornyn, Tillis echo GOP colleagues' concerns as they block Blanche nomination
Cornyn, who lost reelection this year after Trump endorsed his primary
opponent, and Tillis, who is retiring when his term ends in January, have
blocked Blanche's nomination as many of their GOP colleagues have criticized
the fund.
The Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on Blanche's nomination that had
been scheduled for Thursday morning after Tillis and Cornyn said they needed
more from the administration before they could provide the necessary votes.
The two senators have repeatedly said the Justice Department seemed
interested in reaching an agreement, but the White House wouldn't budge even to
aid the confirmation of Trump's loyal former personal attorney, who has
aggressively pursued the administration's priorities as acting attorney general.
"I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty
much on the same page," Cornyn said Thursday. "But then when the president got
wind of it, he wasn't willing to go along with it."
Blanche, who served as Trump's defense lawyer in his criminal cases, entered
the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to
the top post after Pam Bondi was fired in April by Trump, who was frustrated by
her failure to successfully prosecute his political enemies.
Though Blanche insisted he wasn't auditioning for the permanent job, he has
moved aggressively to pursue the Trump administration's agenda and accelerate
investigations into the president's perceived foes.
Trump continues to express support for his settlement
The two sides have been negotiating for weeks, but Trump has said repeatedly
during the talks that he thinks the fund should go forward and threatened to
move forward with it if Blanche was not confirmed.
After the Thursday vote was delayed, Trump said in a social media post that
he might pull Blanche's nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis
leave office next year.
On Sunday evening, Trump said that people who had faced charges from the
Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and could have benefitted from the fund had
"their lives destroyed."
"This would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered," Trump said.
"A lot of people like it."
On Friday, Trump's attorneys notified a court they would appeal a judge's
scathing ruling that characterized the settlement of the president's lawsuit
against the IRS as an improper exercise in self-dealing. The judge in her order
last month referred one of Trump's attorneys for potential disciplinary action
and criticized Blanche's involvement in the settlement, given his prior
representation of Trump.
Blanche has said he disagrees "with the judge's insinuations" about him.
Justice Department lawyers had previously written in court papers that the fund
was not moving forward but they refused a judge's request to have Blanche and
other administration officials file a declaration under penalty of perjury that
the administration would not take any further action to create the fund.
The Justice Department said the court's demands were "unnecessary."
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