Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s Justice Department declined Friday to submit a sworn declaration to a federal judge that the Trump administration will not revive its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, arguing the declaration would be “unnecessary” and raise constitutional concerns, according to CNBC and CBS News.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema had given the DOJ a week to provide written, sworn statements from Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent affirming the fund would not proceed. She signaled she would dismiss a lawsuit seeking to permanently block the program if they complied.
In a Friday court filing, senior Justice Department counsel Andrew Block argued that Blanche’s prior testimony to Congress—where he stated the fund was “not going forward, period”—was sufficient, and that compelling sworn declarations from executive branch officials raised “serious separation of powers concerns,” according to CBS News.
Blanche testified to a House Appropriations Committee on June 2 that the Justice Department would not move forward with the fund, but he did not put that commitment in writing or make it under penalty of perjury. The refusal to provide a sworn declaration left open the possibility the fund could be resurrected, which prompted the judge’s demand for written assurances.
The $1.8 billion fund was created as part of a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion civil lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax records. The program was designed to compensate what the administration called victims of “prosecutorial overreach” during the Biden administration, according to CNBC.
The fund drew intense criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers over concerns that it could pay people charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot. After the fund threatened to derail GOP legislative priorities in Congress, Blanche announced the administration would not pursue it—though without formal legal commitment.
Democracy Forward, one of the groups challenging the fund in court, said the refusal to submit sworn declarations was telling. “It is telling that even after the federal court gave them a week, the Acting Attorney General and other senior administration officials continue to refuse to say under oath that the Slush Fund is dead and won’t operate in the future,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement to CBS News.
Judge Brinkema warned in her June 11 order that if the administration declined to file the declaration, the lawsuit would proceed. The judge has already issued a preliminary injunction blocking the DOJ from taking any action to create or operate the program.
Sources
- CNBC — DOJ’s refusal to submit sworn declaration on the anti-weaponization fund, judge’s request, and separation of powers argument
- CBS News — DOJ’s court filing, judge’s directive, Democracy Forward’s response, and background on the fund’s origins and criticism
