Trump Says $1.8 Billion Anti-Weaponization Fund Is Dead as Blanche Nomination Stalls/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ President Donald Trump said the proposed $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund is “dead,” although he continued defending compensation for political allies prosecuted by the Justice Department. Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are withholding support for Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination until the administration provides written guarantees concerning the fund and Trump’s protection from IRS audits. The Senate Judiciary Committee rescheduled its vote on Blanche for Tuesday as negotiations continued between the White House, Justice Department and Republican senators.
Quick Look
- Trump said officials had “agreed not to have a fund.”
- The proposed Anti-Weaponization Fund was valued at approximately $1.8 billion.
- Trump continued arguing that people prosecuted by the Justice Department deserved compensation.
- Cornyn and Tillis want the fund’s cancellation formally documented.
- The senators also seek limits on an IRS audit-immunity agreement covering Trump and his family.
- The Justice Department provided language rescinding Blanche’s May 18 order establishing the fund.
- The Judiciary Committee postponed its original vote on Blanche.
- Chairman Chuck Grassley scheduled another committee vote for Tuesday.
- Trump previously suggested withdrawing Blanche’s nomination until Cornyn and Tillis leave office.
- Blanche can continue serving as acting attorney general while his confirmation remains unresolved.
- Trump’s attorneys are appealing a judge’s ruling criticizing the IRS settlement.
- Several Republican senators have publicly objected to compensating people involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Deep Look
Trump says disputed compensation fund is dead
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration would not establish a proposed $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate political allies prosecuted by the Justice Department, even as he continued defending the idea.
The contradictory messages added uncertainty to negotiations with two Republican senators who are withholding support for Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney general.
Speaking with reporters at Camp David, Trump said administration officials had “agreed not to have a fund.”
His statement appeared to confirm that the proposed Anti-Weaponization Fund would not move forward. Trump nevertheless made clear that he disagreed with abandoning the plan.
Earlier Friday, the president argued on social media that people prosecuted by the Justice Department — including many charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — deserved financial compensation.
Trump wrote that they “are suffering still, many ruined, and I felt that they should be given compensation for what has been done to them.”
Republican senators demand a written commitment
Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina say they will not support Blanche’s nomination until the administration formally confirms that the fund has been eliminated.
Both lawmakers sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where their opposition has prevented the panel from advancing the nomination.
“The President made it clear today that the so-called Anti Weaponization Fund is still alive, which is exactly why we are attempting to formally end it,” Tillis said following Trump’s initial social media statement.
Cornyn and Tillis have spent weeks negotiating with the White House and Blanche, who currently serves as acting attorney general. Although the administration has offered language addressing their concerns, the senators have said they still need additional guarantees.
Judiciary Committee schedules another vote
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley scheduled a new committee vote on Blanche’s nomination for Tuesday after an earlier vote was postponed.
A committee spokesperson said Grassley wants Blanche confirmed before the Senate begins its August recess. Scheduling the vote “gives more time for the White House to secure the votes for the President’s nominee,” the spokesperson said.
The committee had planned to consider Blanche on Thursday. That vote was abandoned after Cornyn and Tillis indicated that they remained dissatisfied with the administration’s assurances.
Because Democrats oppose the nomination, resistance from Republican committee members could prevent Blanche from reaching a confirmation vote before the full Senate.
Justice Department offers language rescinding fund
Blanche said during a confirmation hearing two months ago that the Anti-Weaponization Fund would not move forward. His assurances followed a revolt by Republican senators that delayed an immigration funding bill.
Cornyn and Tillis remain concerned that the White House could revive the proposal, particularly because Trump continues to support compensating people he describes as victims of government misconduct.
The Justice Department has provided language stating that Blanche’s May 18 order creating the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is “rescinded and shall have no force or effect,” according to a document reviewed by The Associated Press.
The senators, however, are seeking a final agreement that also addresses a separate and controversial provision of Trump’s settlement with the Internal Revenue Service.
Senators question Trump’s IRS audit immunity
The settlement would give Trump and members of his family protection from certain IRS audits.
Cornyn said his understanding was that the agreement could affect more than 100 Trump Organization subsidiaries and potentially shield future tax filings from examination.
The senator wants the administration to state in writing that the agreement applies only to parties involved in the original lawsuit and covers existing matters rather than future returns.
“Todd Blanche said it was limited to the parties to the litigation — and it was retrospective, not prospective,” Cornyn said. “And all we’re doing is asking them to put that in writing.”
Critics have characterized the settlement as an improper agreement negotiated by Trump with his own Justice Department for his personal benefit.
Trump previously threatened to withdraw Blanche’s nomination
After the Judiciary Committee postponed its vote, Trump suggested withdrawing Blanche’s nomination and submitting it again after Cornyn and Tillis leave the Senate next year.
Cornyn lost his reelection campaign after Trump supported his Republican primary opponent. Tillis is retiring when his term expires in January.
Despite Trump’s threat, Blanche and the two senators continued negotiating Thursday afternoon on Capitol Hill.
A person familiar with the discussions said Friday that talks had been positive but that the senators were still waiting for another proposal from the Justice Department. The person spoke anonymously because the negotiations were private.
The senators have generally described the Justice Department as willing to negotiate while suggesting that the principal resistance has come from the White House.
“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.”
Tillis said Blanche “has been forthright, thoughtful and patient” during the negotiations. He blamed the delay on an “incompetent personal adviser” to Trump.
Trump adviser accused of obstructing agreement
Three people with direct knowledge of the negotiations identified Trump legal adviser Boris Epshteyn as an obstacle to an agreement. They requested anonymity because they were discussing private conversations.
White House communications director Steven Cheung disputed that account.
Saying the AP’s “sources are wrong,” Cheung said “anyone trying to assign blame to the President or his team has no earthly idea of what is going on and clearly is trying to deflect from the issue at hand — Todd Blanche will be an exceptional Attorney General and he should be confirmed immediately.”
Blanche is a former personal attorney for Trump and has pursued the president’s priorities while serving as acting attorney general.
Trump appeals ruling criticizing IRS settlement
Trump’s attorneys informed a court Friday that they would appeal a judge’s ruling sharply criticizing the settlement of his lawsuit against the IRS.
The judge characterized the agreement as an improper act of self-dealing. She also referred one of Trump’s attorneys for possible disciplinary action and questioned Blanche’s role in approving the settlement because he previously represented Trump.
Blanche has said he disagrees “with the judge’s insinuations” about him.
Republican opposition focuses on Jan. 6 defendants
The proposed compensation fund could have benefited people prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the attack on his first day back in office.
Although Republican senators generally support the president, several have strongly objected to using government money to compensate Jan. 6 defendants.
“The criminals who assaulted police officers and defiled our nation’s Capitol are not ‘great American patriots’ who are ‘victims of government abuse,’” Tillis said.
Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said most Senate Republicans were uncomfortable with the proposed fund.
“Blanche said it’s dead, and he testified that it’s not coming back,” Kennedy said. “But for whatever reason, somebody didn’t want to put it in writing.”
The dispute now centers on whether the White House will provide commitments strong enough to win over Cornyn and Tillis before Tuesday’s scheduled committee vote.
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