Trump administration dropping DOJ’s $1.8B ‘lawfare’ fund

According to news on Monday, the Trump administration plans to withdraw the Department of Justice’s $1.8 billion “Proliferation Fund” in the face of legal and political obstacles.

The fund was created as part of the settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against the Internal Revenue Service. It is intended to compensate alleged victims of prosecutorial overreach by the Justice Department under the Biden administration.

News that the fund had been shelved came after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) met with Trump about the fund at the White House.

R.S.D. “I think the best way to deal with this is for the administration to decide to shut this down on its own,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday.

axiosMonday’s report quoted a senior administration official as saying the fund was “dead for now.”

Punch Bowl He also reported that “the administration is expected to announce that they will comply with the court decision and will not move forward with the armament fund.”

Shortly after MS NOW confirmed Axios’ report.

A federal judge on Friday blocked the DOJ from taking any action to create or distribute money from the fund for now because of a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia.

Judge Leonie Brinkema also scheduled a hearing for June 12 on whether the injunction against the fund should continue.

Brinkema is leading one of three federal lawsuits seeking to block the funding.

On Monday, a DOJ spokesperson told CNBC in an email when asked about reports that the funding had been cut: “The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the Antiproliferation Fund decision as asserted by a United States District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, where the Court stated that under no circumstances can the Department of Justice continue the Antiproliferation Fund, which was recently established to compensate for the tremendous abuse, harm, and hatred unjustly inflicted on so many people.”

“This Fund was open to anyone who has been armed, targeted or persecuted, whether Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent or otherwise,” the spokesperson said. “The Ministry will comply with the court’s decision.”

Brinkema’s decision only temporarily suspended funding, not permanently.

CNBC requested comment from the White House.

On Monday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Year) said Democrats would “launch a coordinated effort to eliminate the slush fund before a penny leaves the door.”

Schumer said Democrats will push Republican senators to vote on the funding by proposing a series of changes during an expected compromise vote to fund immigration law enforcement within the Department of Homeland Security.

Criticism of the fund at the Senate GOP meeting last month led Republican senators to abandon plans for a compromise vote before the Senate adjourned.

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