[Source: Reuters]
The Trump administration is abandoning the president’s nearly $1.8 billion “weaponization” fund, U.S. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers on Tuesday, after a rare backlash from Republican senators.
“We are not moving forward with the fund,” Blanche said. “Period.”
The fund emerged from a legal settlement between President Donald Trump and the Justice Department to resolve an unprecedented $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the alleged mishandling of his tax records.
The agreement with Trump to bar future audits into his or his family’s past tax records will remain in place, Blanche told lawmakers.
The fund was dropped as furious senators faced an impasse over a $72 billion bill to fund immigration and border patrol operations.
Congressional leaders had questioned whether they could pass the bill if the fund was not killed, and a person familiar with the White House’s thinking said Blanche’s future hinged on his ability to address those concerns.
The $1.776 billion fund was meant to pay people who said they had been the subject of government abuse, and Blanche angered senators last month when he would not commit to barring people who assaulted police officers during the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot from receiving funds.
White House officials spent much of Monday calling lawmakers to assure them there would be no payouts after the Republican revolt, said two sources familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
That assurance had done little to quiet Republican demands ahead of Blanche’s House subcommittee hearing Tuesday afternoon, where lawmakers pressed for a definitive promise that the fund was dead.
