President Donald Trump appears to have abandoned his attempt to open a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for his political allies, but the administration is sitting on a virtually bottomless pile of cash used to settle claims brought against the federal government.
Hundreds of people accused of joining a mob that fought police and broke into the Capitol are lining up for taxpayer-funded payouts. This week, nine rioters filed a lawsuit seeking $1 million each for their “injuries and losses relating to the protest” on January 6, 2021.
Lawyers for rioters say they have filed at least 600 claims so far, with more on the way.
They’re all 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.
With Trump’s so-called “slush fund” facing obstacles in Congress and in courtrooms, Republican lawmakers and top officials at the Department of Justice could be making alternate plans to funnel millions of dollars to the president’s aggrieved allies, including the hundreds of people charged and convicted in connection with the Capitol assault.
On Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote that “victims” of the Biden administration’s “weaponization” should still be able to collect checks if they “can prove their claim against the federal government through the Federal Tort Claims Act.”
“We have a legal system already in place for people to make claims against the government,” he wrote on X. “That does not need to be reinvented.”
In response to Graham, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward wrote: “We’re on it.”
He later deleted the post.
Last month, however, Woodward told reporters at a news conference that the Justice Department has the ability “to settle any claim that is brought against the United States of America.”
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 multi-million dollar Federal Tort Claims Act claims from his supporters and allies since returning to office.
The family of Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer on January 6 while trying to break into the House chamber, received a nearly $5 million settlement last year.
Michael Flynn and Carter Page each received a $1.25 million settlement despite losing their individual cases. Anti-abortion activist Mark Houck reportedly received more than $1 million after his claim against the FBI, and writer Alex Berenson says he received $150,000 after he accused the government of violating his First Amendment rights for allegedly working with Twitter to stop the spread of COVID-19 misinformation.
Woodward, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, signed the so-called settlement agreement that resolved Trump’s lawsuit against his own IRS.
With that deal, Trump secured effective immunity from any tax investigations involving himself, his family and businesses. The deal also created the $1.776 “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” overseen by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who was to appoint members to a board that would review the claims.
Blanche told members of Congress this week that the fund was “not moving forward” after a federal judge blocked the administration from “taking any further action.”
The Justice Department also said it “will abide by the Court’s ruling.”
That order ends June 12, unless the fund is further blocked by the courts.
But in remarks to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump said he wasn’t sure whether the fund was dead or merely on hold while the legal challenge plays out.
“I’d have to ask the lawyers,” he said. “The weaponization fund, as far as I’m concerned, was a beautiful thing.”
“I love it,” he added. “I think it’s so important.”
In an early morning vote, the Senate passed a government funding bill after the president’s compensation fund threatened to derail the legislation.
But the measure does not include any language preventing the creation of a fund in the future. Senate Republicans blocked a measure from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that would explicitly ban the creation of a slush fund.
“Republicans are trusting the word of Todd Blanche, who built a career on lying, that the administration will just drop this slush fund,” Schumer said in remarks from the Senate floor before a final vote.
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