Blanche Rescinds Fund for Trump Allies 08/03 06:24

   Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal order late Sunday 
terminating President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" to 
compensate his political allies, a move that follows weeks of negotiations with 
two Republican senators who were blocking his nomination to become attorney 
general.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a formal 
order late Sunday terminating President Donald Trump's $1.8 billion 
"anti-weaponization fund" to compensate his political allies, a move that 
follows weeks of negotiations with two Republican senators who were blocking 
his nomination to become attorney general.

   A spokeswoman for Texas Sen. John Cornyn, one of the senators holding up 
Blanche's nomination, confirmed the deal, which comes ahead of a Tuesday 
confirmation vote for Blanche's nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee. 
The other GOP senator, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, did not have immediate 
comment.

   Blanche said at a June hearing that the Justice Department would not move 
forward with the fund to compensate those who believe they were unfairly 
prosecuted, as he faced bipartisan outrage over the possibility that violent 
rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be 
considered for payments. But Cornyn and Tillis, both members of the Judiciary 
panel, have said they wanted to see the promise in writing before they endorsed 
Blanche's nomination -- especially as Trump continued to express support for 
the idea.

   In a statement, Blanche said the order came after "good faith discussions."

   "My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past 
several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions," Blanche 
said.

   DOJ order says 'beyond any doubt' that fund is dead

   In a statement accompanying the order, the Justice Department said that 
"although the Acting Attorney General has repeatedly advised Congress through 
testimony, including under oath, as well as in written responses, that the Fund 
is not moving forward, and the Department has repeatedly represented to 
district courts that the Fund is not moving forward, today's Order officially 
rescinds the May 18, 2026 Order."

   Since the settlement of the president's lawsuit against the IRS was 
announced, "No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process 
for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid," the order says. 
"This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."

   The document released by Blanche on Sunday night also limits the scope of 
another provision of the settlement that provided broad immunity for Trump and 
members of his family from tax audits.

   The deal clarifies that the tax audit immunity agreement "applies by its 
terms only retroactively" to claims open at the time of the settlement and does 
not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.

   Cornyn, Tillis echo GOP colleagues' concerns as they block Blanche nomination

   Cornyn, who lost reelection this year after Trump endorsed his primary 
opponent, and Tillis, who is retiring when his term ends in January, have 
blocked Blanche's nomination as many of their GOP colleagues have criticized 
the fund.

   The Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on Blanche's nomination that had 
been scheduled for Thursday morning after Tillis and Cornyn said they needed 
more from the administration before they could provide the necessary votes.

   The two senators have repeatedly said the Justice Department seemed 
interested in reaching an agreement, but the White House wouldn't budge even to 
aid the confirmation of Trump's loyal former personal attorney, who has 
aggressively pursued the administration's priorities as acting attorney general.

   "I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty 
much on the same page," Cornyn said Thursday. "But then when the president got 
wind of it, he wasn't willing to go along with it."

   Blanche, who served as Trump's defense lawyer in his criminal cases, entered 
the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to 
the top post after Pam Bondi was fired in April by Trump, who was frustrated by 
her failure to successfully prosecute his political enemies.

   Though Blanche insisted he wasn't auditioning for the permanent job, he has 
moved aggressively to pursue the Trump administration's agenda and accelerate 
investigations into the president's perceived foes.

   Trump continues to express support for his settlement

   The two sides have been negotiating for weeks, but Trump has said repeatedly 
during the talks that he thinks the fund should go forward and threatened to 
move forward with it if Blanche was not confirmed.

   After the Thursday vote was delayed, Trump said in a social media post that 
he might pull Blanche's nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis 
leave office next year.

   On Sunday evening, Trump said that people who had faced charges from the 
Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and could have benefitted from the fund had 
"their lives destroyed."

   "This would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered," Trump said. 
"A lot of people like it."

   On Friday, Trump's attorneys notified a court they would appeal a judge's 
scathing ruling that characterized the settlement of the president's lawsuit 
against the IRS as an improper exercise in self-dealing. The judge in her order 
last month referred one of Trump's attorneys for potential disciplinary action 
and criticized Blanche's involvement in the settlement, given his prior 
representation of Trump.

   Blanche has said he disagrees "with the judge's insinuations" about him. 
Justice Department lawyers had previously written in court papers that the fund 
was not moving forward but they refused a judge's request to have Blanche and 
other administration officials file a declaration under penalty of perjury that 
the administration would not take any further action to create the fund.

   The Justice Department said the court's demands were "unnecessary."