Donald Trump’s controversial $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund just met its end, but one major protection for the president remains firmly in place. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche revealed the fund’s fate and explained what comes next during a heated congressional hearing.
Todd Blanche gives an update on Donald Trump’s Anti-Weaponization Fund
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the federal government is abandoning the $1.8bn anti-weaponization fund during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on Tuesday, The Guardian reports.
Blanche stated the Internal Revenue Service will still face a prohibition on auditing Donald Trump, his family, and related entities. The fund originally aimed to compensate individuals who claimed government weaponization against them.
“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche declared at the hearing. He acknowledged that the reasoning behind the fund remains important to President Trump. However, he did not explain why the department dropped the fund while keeping the anti-audit provision.
The agreements initially resolved a long-shot $10bn lawsuit filed by Trump against the IRS over leaked tax returns. Both Democrats and Republicans objected strongly to the loosely controlled $1.776bn fund. The fund would have awarded money with no restrictions to allies of the president.
Blanche insisted the audit immunity agreement was normal practice. Former IRS officials have disputed that claim strongly. “Whether you are the president or Joe the Plumber, people expect the same tax rules and enforcement framework to apply to everybody,” former IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel told NPR.
Legal experts have raised concerns about the agreement potentially violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause. The clause bars the president from receiving personal financial benefits from the position. Discharging the president’s potential tax liability could constitute such a benefit.
A federal judge in Virginia recently blocked the administration from acting on the fund temporarily. A federal judge in Florida also reopened the original case to investigate potential wrongdoing. Individual victims may still seek compensation through administrative claims against the government despite the fund’s cancellation.
