“Today’s order granting discovery is a significant step up in getting to the bottom of the slush fund,” said Aman George, senior counsel at Democracy Forward, the nonprofit representing the plaintiffs. “We will continue to meet the government in court until our investigation is complete and the slush fund is permanently halted.”
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release the names of the people who came up with the structure for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that Attorney General Todd Blanche now claims is “dead.”
According to NBC News, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis of the Eastern District of Virginia issued an order on Friday that granted part of a motion from plaintiffs to force the federal government into discovery. Part of Davis’s order instructs the administration to disclose the names of the fund’s chief architects.
“Today’s order granting discovery is a significant step up in getting to the bottom of the slush fund,” said Aman George, senior counsel at Democracy Forward, the nonprofit representing the plaintiffs. “We will continue to meet the government in court until our investigation is complete and the slush fund is permanently halted.”
NBC News notes that the controversial “anti-weaponization” fund was established as part of a settlement-agreement between President Donald Trump, his family members, the Trump organization, and the Internal Revenue Service. The fund would set aside approximately $1.8 billion in taxpayer funds to compensate persons who “suffered weaponization and lawfare” under past presidential administrations. If approved, the fund would likely extend payments to January 6 rioters who were convicted of violent crimes before being pardoned by Trump.
Remarkably, the agreement contained another provision shielding Trump and several of his relatives from future IRS audits.
Attorney General Blanche later wrote that the fund “is rescinded” and that there currently “is no fund.” However, the document signed by Blanche wasn’t approved by the fund’s other signatories—meaning that the fund, and the audit provisions, could be brought back at a later date. Despite Blanche’s insistence, President Trump has taken a different stance on the matter, repeatedly voicing his support for a fund that would compensate his supporters and political allies. Earlier this summer, during a cabinet meeting, Trump lamented that the fund “is dead, but you know, I wish it weren’t,” emphasizing that he thinks “people were horribly treated.”
The New York Times reports that, earlier this year, another Florida-based federal judge “excoriated” Trump’s original lawsuit against the IRS, who observed that Trump was, in effect, suing an agency that he controls.
Sources
Judge orders Trump officials to disclose who set up the $1.8B ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
Judge Orders Trump Officials to Divulge Names of Those Who Set Up $1.8 Billion Fund
