{"id":211098,"date":"2026-05-19T08:42:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/doj-sets-up-1-8b-anti-weaponization-fund-after-trump-drops-irs-lawsuit-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T08:42:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:42:53","slug":"doj-sets-up-1-8b-anti-weaponization-fund-after-trump-drops-irs-lawsuit-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/doj-sets-up-1-8b-anti-weaponization-fund-after-trump-drops-irs-lawsuit-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ sets up $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund after Trump drops IRS lawsuit – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Justice Department announced Monday that it was establishing a $1.776 billion \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d after President Donald Trump moved to dismiss a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS<\/a> over his leaked tax returns.
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Justice Department officials announced that Trump and his co-plaintiffs would drop their IRS lawsuit, as well as other claims of damages, in connection with the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home, and in connection with the Russian collusion scandal \u201cin exchange\u201d for creating the fund, which the Justice Department<\/a> said set up a \u201csystematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.\u201d
The fund was established ahead of court deadlines in the IRS case, which would have required the Trump administration to explain whether there was an actual case to be heard, given Trump\u2019s control over the Justice Department\u2019s actions.
ABC News was first <\/a>to report the settlement.
The massive fund would give Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump<\/a> a mechanism to seek taxpayer payouts for their claims of government overreach. The fund could even issue \u201cformal apologies\u201d to people who made claims against the government, the announcement said. The fund will stop processing claims by Dec. 15, 2028, about a month before Trump\u2019s second term is set to end.
The $1,776,000,000 available for the fund was based \u201cupon the projected valuation of future claimants\u2019 claims,\u201d according to the Justice Department.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, said the fund was meant to reimburse \u201cpeople that were horribly treated,\u201d adding that he wasn\u2019t involved in the fund\u2019s creation.
Asked whether people who committed violence against Capitol Police officers should be eligible for compensation, Trump said \u201cit\u2019ll all be dependent on a committee being set up of very talented people, very highly respected people.\u201d
The attorney general would appoint five members of the commission to oversee the fund, including one member to be chosen in consultation with congressional leadership, the Justice Department said, adding that Trump could remove any member.
The president did not respond to a question about whether his own family would seek compensation from the fund.
The Justice Department on Monday evening released a copy of the agreement<\/a> between Trump and his administration that will result in the creation of the fund. The nine-page document was not filed in court.
A group of House Democrats called the move a \u201c$1.7 billion slush fund\u201d that Trump could use to \u201creward allies, including the nearly 1,600 defendants convicted or charged in connection with the January 6th attack on the Capitol.\u201d
Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., called the news \u201cone of the most brazen examples of corruption we\u2019ve seen from this administration.\u201d The House Democrats\u2019 Litigation Task Force filed a motion<\/a> seeking to block what Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., called \u201cpure fraud and highway robbery.\u201d
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who issued a memo establishing the fund<\/a>, said that the \u201cmachinery of government should never be weaponized against any American\u201d and that the Justice Department intended to \u201cmake right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.\u201d Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said the \u201cuse of government power to target individuals or entities for improper and unlawful political, personal, or ideological reasons should not be tolerated by any Administration.\u201d
Trump\u2019s two elder sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as the Trump Organization, were the other plaintiffs in the IRS case and also moved to drop the lawsuit, according to a court filing Monday<\/a>.
A spokesman for Trump\u2019s legal team said in a statement Monday that \u201cPresident Trump, his family, supporters, and countless other America First Patriots were illegally targeted by the Democrat-lead law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, and the IRS.\u201d The statement added that Trump was \u201centering into this settlement squarely for the benefit of the American people, and he will continue his fight to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.\u201d
The White House referred questions about the filing to the Justice Department. Representatives for the Treasury Department and the IRS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization sued in January<\/a>, alleging that the IRS and the Treasury Department failed to prevent a former IRS employee from leaking their tax returns.
On Monday, after Trump\u2019s move to dismiss the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams ordered the case closed, canceling all corresponding deadlines.
The Trump administration had been facing a Wednesday deadline to explain \u201cwhether a case or controversy exists,\u201d given Trump\u2019s control over the Justice Department, and outside legal experts had told Williams that it could be \u201cuseful\u201d for the court to look into whether the attorneys representing the government were \u201cinsulated\u201d from the president.
\u201cThis case is unprecedented: A sitting president seeks monetary damages for alleged harm to his personal interests from an executive agency that he controls. That presents significant Article III subject matter jurisdiction concerns,\u201d the experts wrote<\/a>.
\u201cThe Court might ask why DOJ\u2019s approach to litigating this case appears to depart from its approach in similar cases, as well as what steps Defendants are taking to ensure that settlement discussions are conducted at arm\u2019s length and without risk of collusion,\u201d they continued.
Trump\u2019s personal lawyers argued in Monday\u2019s filing that the court did not have to weigh in because they were voluntarily dismissing the case and the administration never replied to the suit.
Ryan J. Reilly is a justice reporter for NBC News.
Gary Grumbach is an NBC News legal affairs reporter, based in Washington, D.C.
Megan Lebowitz is a politics reporter for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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