The Justice Department has created a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of a settlement ending President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
DOJ describes in its announcement that the fund will help “hear and redress” claims of Americans “who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”
As well-documented as the weaponization of justice has become, this development leaves a central question unanswered: If the government was weaponized, who broke the law? And if no official is held responsible, why do taxpayers pay the bill?
The Settlement
The fund comes from President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service, a case filed after Trump’s tax returns were leaked. The plaintiffs were President Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization. They sued the Treasury Department and IRS in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.
Under the settlement, they will receive a formal apology, but no direct monetary payment or damages. In return, they agreed to drop the $10 billion lawsuit with prejudice. They also agreed to withdraw two administrative claims, including claims tied to “the unlawful raid of Mar-a-Lago and the Russia-collusion hoax.”
But the settlement does not simply end the case. It creates a new federal fund ostensibly aimed at addressing past injustices.
The Fund
The Justice Department framed the new Anti-Weaponization Fund as a response to political abuse of government power:
“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter made the same argument in broader terms:
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.
That is a defensible principle. Undoubtedly, tax agencies, prosecutors, and law-enforcement bodies should not become tools of factional politics.
The money will come from the newly minted “judgment fund,” describe as a “perpetual appropriation allowing DOJ to settle and pay cases.” The fund will receive $1.776 billion.
Hellbound and Down 