The Justice Department is refusing a judge’s request for sworn declarations from top officials confirming that the controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is no longer moving forward.
The Justice Department is pushing back against a federal judge who wants top officials to officially confirm, under oath, that a controversial $1.8 billion fund is really off the table for good.
In a new court filing Friday, the DOJ said the judge’s request for these declarations simply isn’t needed and warned that being forced to comply would raise what it called “serious separation of powers concerns,” according to CNN.
What This Fund Was Supposed to Do
The case is unfolding in a federal courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, and it’s just one of several legal challenges tied to the fund. The money originally came out of a settlement connected to a lawsuit President Trump filed against the IRS, a lawsuit that critics have described as legally shaky from the start.
The plan was to use the fund to compensate people who claimed they’d been targeted or “weaponized” against by the government under previous administrations. But the idea drew sharp criticism almost immediately, with opponents arguing it could effectively function as a slush fund benefiting Trump’s allies.
As pushback grew, both politically and in the courts, the administration eventually walked away from the plan altogether.
Why the Judge Wants It in Writing
Once the administration dropped the fund, Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, who’s overseeing the Virginia case, signaled she was leaning toward declaring the legal dispute moot. But she didn’t want to just take the administration’s word for it informally.
Last week, she ordered the DOJ to produce formal declarations from three specific officials: acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, his top deputy Associate Attorney General Stan Woodward, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. She wanted each of them to confirm, in her words, that “they will not take any action to create or operate the Anti-Weaponization Fund, and that the Anti-Weaponization Fund will not proceed in any manner, or under any name.”
Brinkema made clear in her order that if the declarations weren’t submitted, the case would simply continue moving forward through the legal process.
