Gavin Newsom wants to confiscate every dollar Californians receive from Donald Trump’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
The California governor vowed to slap a 100 percent tax on any payouts tied to the scheme, which critics have said could funnel taxpayer money to Trump loyalists and Jan. 6 rioters.
“Anyone from California that receives any of those funds, we want to tax 100 percent of those proceeds,” Newsom said.
“That’s an action the state of California can take. It’s an action we look forward to taking.”
Newsom announced the proposed tax during a press conference on Wednesday, where he signed new California election-security measures aimed at limiting outside interference in ballot processing and access to voting records.
Newsom’s proposal echoes a push in New York by State Assemblyman Alex Bores, one of 10 Democrats running to succeed longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler in Congress.
Bores introduced the “Anti-Insurrectionist Act,” a bill that would impose a 100 percent state income tax on anyone in New York who receives money from the fund.
“It’s simple, if you’re a New Yorker and you take from this illegal slush fund, New York state will tax 100 percent of it,” he said in a video promoting the bill.
“If you storm the Capitol and you take from this slush fund, too bad, we’re taking it.”
Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund was created last week as part of a settlement with the Justice Department after the president sued the federal government for $10 billion over investigations tied to the IRS, the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search, and the Russia probe.
The settlement established a $1.776 billion compensation fund that the DOJ said would help people who suffered “weaponization and lawfare.”
The agreement could also prevent the IRS from reviewing any of his family’s previous tax returns, with an addendum that ends any current tax investigations or audits into his own books.
However, critics have warned the fund could become a vehicle for rewarding Trump allies and Jan. 6 defendants using taxpayer money.
Newsom directly referenced the Capitol riot while defending California’s proposed tax.
“He pardoned all of those folks that were beating up cops and absolved them, providing them 1.776 billion dollars,” the governor said.
“So not only do you get a pardon, you get rewarded.”
The fund has sparked unease in Washington.
Sen. Ted Cruz said GOP senators were “screaming” at Attorney General Todd Blanche during a private briefing on the fund last week, describing it as “one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate.”
“Fiery does not begin to cut it, at least half of them were blasting the attorney general, and they were pissed,” Cruz said on his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Blanche defended the fund during an interview with CNN, insisting the arrangement was legal and arguing Americans would support compensating people harmed by government “weaponization.”
“If you’re just upset, you’re not getting a dime,” Blanche said. “On the other hand, I think if you said to the American taxpayer that there is a horrible wrong committed by your government and you can apply, and you can have your lawyer’s fees back, you can be compensated for what you lost financially, what American would say ‘Oh my gosh, that’s terrible?’”
The fund is now also facing legal blowback after a bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges asked a federal court in Miami to reopen Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS and investigate whether the settlement amounted to “fraud” and an abuse of the judicial system.
In a filing obtained by The New York Times, the former judges argued the agreement raised “profound questions” about whether the court had been misled and accused the parties of potentially “manipulation of the judicial system.”
“The purported ‘settlement’ that was publicly disclosed after this court dismissed this matter raises profound questions about the parties’ candor toward the court,” the filing stated.
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House and Justice Department for comment.
