Judge again directs DOJ to address whether 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' is dead

(WASHINGTON) -- A federal judge is again directing the Justice Department to formally address whether the Trump administration's "Anti-Weaponization Fund" is dead, as the agency has claimed.

The order, filed Wednesday by District Judge Leonie Brinkema, comes after the Justice Department refused to issue a signed declaration verifying the $1.8 billion fund was not moving forward.

In her order, Brinkema said she is not satisfied with the DOJ's contention that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's recent testimony before Congress is proof enough that the fund is dead.

"That the defendants have refused to accord a genuine degree of trustworthiness to their representations about the Fund not going forward is particularly concerning because of the President's consistent support for the Fund and Acting Attorney General Blanche's acknowledgement that the Fund remains 'important,'" Brinkema wrote. 

She is demanding that the DOJ file papers issuing another response in the coming weeks and hinted in her order that Blanche may have to answer questions about his plans for the fund in a deposition. 

The $1.776 billion fund was announced in May by the Justice Department to compensate those who allege they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration.

It was proposed in exchange for President Donald Trump agreeing to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS as well as two civil claims for $230 million related to the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate -- sparking accusations of self-dealing and a bipartisan uproar over the possible use of taxpayer money to pay rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

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