How Trump's $1.8B "anti-weaponization" fund works

President Trump sued his own administration, settled and will now spend $1.776 billion of taxpayer money to pay people who say the government targeted them politically. Why it matters: The "Anti-Weaponization Fund" turns a personal Trump settlement into a new government program, shields decisions on who gets the money from the courts and limits information about what the public knows about where the funds go. The backstory: Trump sued the IRS and Treasury in January for $10 billion over the 2019 leak of his tax returns. The settlement gives Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization a formal apology but no money, and it bars the IRS from auditing Trump's past tax returns. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former criminal defense lawyer , created the Anti-Weaponization Fund with the Treasury Department's Judgment Fund. How it works: The attorney general will handpick the five-member commission that decides who will collect money from the fund, which ends in December 2028. Those decisions can't be appealed or challenged in court. The settlement does not require public disclosure of payouts. The settlement lets the fund spend part of the $1.776 billion on itself, including staff, travel and facilities. The Justice Department and the White House did not answer Axios' question about whether there is any cap on those costs. Who's eligible: Almost anyone alleging "weaponization" or "lawfare" can apply, Blanche told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday. Blanche refused to commit that people convicted of assaulting Capitol Police would be excluded: "I'm not one of the commissioners setting up the rules." Vice President Vance separately said that even Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk convicted of a state crime, and Hunter Biden, the son of former President Biden, could be compensated. Context: Trump's new fund is possible thanks to a Judgment Fund created by Congress in 1956, so the government could q...

Original source: Axios