A US District Judge Leonie Brinkema temporarily blocked further action on a $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund created by the Justice Department as part of a settlement in President Donald Trump’s civil lawsuit against the IRS. The ruling barred the government from setting up or operating the fund while additional legal arguments are heard. The fund has faced criticism as a scheme to funnel taxpayer dollars to Trump loyalists. The Justice Department created the fund to compensate people selected by a panel chosen mainly by Trump’s Justice Department for harms described as government “weaponization” and “lawfare” attributed to the Biden administration. A June 12 hearing is scheduled to decide whether the freeze should continue.
"US District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that the US government was barred from "taking any further action" to set up or operate the fund while the judge hears additional legal arguments."
"The $1.776 billion (1.522 billion) fund has been criticized as a scheme to funnel taxpayer dollars to Trump loyalists. Skye Perryman, the head of Democracy Forward, the group that challenged the fund in court, said the temporary halt was "a victory for transparency, the rule of law, and the American people.""
"The Justice Department created the fund as part of the settlement of Trump's civil lawsuit against the IRS, where Trump had sought billions in compensation over the leak of his tax returns by a former government contractor. With the "anti-weaponization" fund, a panel chosen mainly by Trump's Justice Deaprtment would compensate people who suffered from what Trump called government "weaponization" and "lawfare" by his predecessor, the Biden administration."
"A June 12 hearing is scheduled to consider whether the government's work on the fund should remain frozen for longer. The White House declined to comment on the judge's ruling, referring all questions to the Justice Department, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment."
#us-federal-court #justice-department-settlement #political-funding-controversy #irs-tax-return-lawsuit #anti-weaponization-fund
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