A federal judge won’t throw out a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s administration over plans for a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for the president’s allies after officials refused to provide a sworn statement that the fund is actually dead.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema wanted officials to file a “short, written declaration under the penalty of perjury” that the government won’t take any action to “create or operate” what critics have called a slush fund for Trump’s allies.
Government attorneys refused, so the lawsuit is still alive, and the case could now go to trial, the judge said Thursday.
Despite telling members of Congress that the government is “not moving forward” with the fund, Blanche said he’s “not committing to put anything in writing” and refused to rescind a memo establishing the fund. Last week, the Justice Department called the judge’s request for a written statement “unnecessary” and said it amounted to judicial “overreach.”
The Justice Department cited Blanche’s recent congressional testimony that the fund was “not going forward, period,” and the government “has twice said substantially the same thing in open court,” according to Andrew Block, senior counsel to Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr.
But that’s not enough, Brinkema fired back Thursday.
“That the defendants have refused to accord a genuine degree of trustworthiness to their representations about the Fund not going forward is particularly concerning,” wrote Brinkema, who pointed to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche calling the fund “important.”
Blanche’s “continued interest in compensating alleged victims of alleged government weaponization” and the government’s “unwillingness” to provide her with a sworn statement “all support the conclusion that this civil action is not moot.”
Evidence collection in the case can now begin, and the government is ordered to file a response by July 17.
Earlier this month, the judge issued a preliminary injunction that blocks the government from establishing the fund, stressing that Blanche’s testimony wasn’t enough for her to believe it’s dead.
Despite the Justice Department’s insistence that the administration is abandoning plans for the fund after legal and political roadblocks, officials are looking for pathways to issue massive taxpayer-funded payouts to alleged “victims” of government “weaponization,” including January 6 rioters and close allies of the president.
The now-blocked $1.1776 billion fund — announced as part of an agreement between the president and the IRS after he sued his own administration for $10 billion — was expected to be used to settle claims brought by those alleged “victims.”
Republicans and administration officials are now indicating that the government could turn to an existing fund to start settling hundreds of lawsuits and other claims brought by Trump’s allies.
Officials are reportedly informing the president’s allies that they can expect checks from the government after they wait for the political and legal blowback to die down.
Hundreds of January 6 defendants who were pardoned by the president are suing under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which taps into the government’s permanent Judgment Fund used to pay court judgments and other settlements involving the federal government.
The Judgment Fund is intended to “eliminate the procedural burdens involved in getting an appropriation from Congress to pay a particular judgment,” according to the Department of Treasury.
The Trump administration has already used it to settle several multi-million dollar Federal Tort Claims Act claims from his supporters and allies since returning to office.
Trump, meanwhile, has said he “loves” the fund, which he has called a “beautiful thing.”
“If it was up to me, I’d pay them the kind of money that they deserve,” he told NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press. “I think the weaponization fund is a great idea, and so do many other Republicans. You have to get it approved. If they get it approved, that’s great. If they don’t get it approved, I’d be disappointed.”
The Independent has requested comment from the Justice Department.
