A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to reveal who created the structure of a controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weapons fund” to reward victims of so-called political warfare that was reportedly abandoned by the justice department last month. Ivan Davis, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, issued the order demanding discovery materials from the government as part of a lawsuit filed by the nonprofit Democracy Forward on behalf of plaintiffs, including a fired prosecutor and a university professor. acquitted of assaulting federal agents at a protest against an immigration raid in California. “Today’s order granting discovery is an important step in getting to the bottom of the slush fund,” said Aman George, senior attorney for the nonprofit. “We will continue to meet with the government in court until our investigation is complete and the slush fund is permanently stopped.” Last month, Todd Blanche said the fund he proposed before he was confirmed “is dead.” The US attorney general told Fox News on Sunday: “The fund is dead or whatever it’s called. It never started. So it’s not like the fund is coming back.” Blanche said Trump “believes the Justice Department was weaponized against many Americans” under the Biden administration, adding, “It really hurt them financially.” The proposed compensation plan was established as part of the settlement Trump reached with the IRS regarding a lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns. The agreement protected the president and his family from future tax audits. In July, another federal judge ruled that the parties had never really been in conflict and that Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS had only been a pretext to create the fund. “There was never any adversity between the parties; there was never a case or controversy; and there was never a question as to who would prevail,” U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said in a ruling, adding that the lawsuit had been brought “for an improper purpose: to obtain judicial imprimatur for an ‘agreement’ that had no viable basis in fact or law.” The proposed fund drew bipartisan criticism in Washington, including opposition from two Republican senators, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, and jeopardized Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general. About 2 or 3 times a day Subscribe to Breaking News US Receive the biggest news as it breaks after the newsletter promotion. Critics of the program have pointed out that the document demanded by lawmakers did not include the signatories of the initial agreement, suggesting it could be revived. Blanche has said that “there were never commissioners” in charge of the “payment pot.” But Senate Democrat Cory Booker said the deal guaranteed “nothing … no guarantee that this slush fund still can’t move forward.” Trump has regretted the abandonment of the fund and has not ruled out another means of compensation. “It’s dead, but I wish it wasn’t,” he said of the fund at a cabinet meeting in July. “To be honest, I think people were treated horribly and abused horribly.” Get in touchContact us about this storyThe best public interest journalism is based on first-hand accounts from people who know. If you have something to share on this topic, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods: Secure messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool for submitting story tips. Messages are end-to-end encrypted and hidden within the routine activity that each Guardian mobile application performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us, much less what is being said. If you don’t have the Guardian app yet, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select ‘Secure Messaging’. SecureDrop If you can use the Tor network safely without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to The Guardian via our SecureDrop platform. Our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us safely and discusses the pros and cons of each. Show more
