A $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund created by the Trump administration to compensate people said to have been targeted for political reasons is drawing widespread criticism. The Department of Justice agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization against the IRS over leaked tax returns. Critics argue the arrangement is problematic because Trump is both a plaintiff and the head of the government agencies involved, and because the fund would distribute money without congressional approval. The controversy also includes claims that January 6 rioters who assaulted law enforcement officers are seeking shares. Jim Acosta publicly asked Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for compensation, citing the seizure of his White House press pass in 2018 and alleging sustained government efforts to destroy his career.
"The Department of Justice announced it had agreed to settle a lawsuit Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization had filed against the IRS for leaking their tax returns. It's been a highly controversial move for multiple reasons: Trump as president is now in the role of both the plaintiff in his lawsuit and in charge of the defendant government agencies, the fund purports to allow distribution of funds without congressional approval, and January 6 rioters who were pardoned by Trump are seeking a share of the funds even those who assaulted law enforcement officers."
"In a new post Thursday on his Substack titled I'd Like to Apply for the Anti-Weaponization Fund, Acosta wrote an open letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, arguing that Trump had seized my White House press pass back in 2018, violating my First and Fifth Amendment rights, all part of a sustained government effort to destroy my career, so [s]houldn't I be compensated? Having been on the receiving end of some first-term Trump government weaponization, I think I have a pretty good case for some cold, hard slush fund' cash, Acosta wrote."
"Acosta wrote, noting that the backers of this fund had made it sound like just about anybody can apply. Among the reasons Acosta listed was the 2018 incident in which Trump got really steamed at me after the then-CNN White House correspondent asked the president a question about the caravan of migrants that was heading towards the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump attacked Acosta as the enemy of the people and a rude, terrible person."
#anti-weaponization-fund #trump-administration #department-of-justice #irs-tax-returns #first-and-fifth-amendment
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