Republican Sen. Thom Tillis says heads should roll over the “horrible politics” of the Trump administration’s so-called “anti-weaponization fund,” which could see convicted Jan 6. rioters get payouts.
Tillis, 65, appeared on State of the Union Sunday, and summarized to host Jake Tapper: “As I said earlier, I stand by it, it’s stupid on stilts.”
“Look, you’re talking about people who assaulted Capitol police officers on January the 6th, were then convicted. Many of them pled guilty, or they were convicted by a jury of their peers. They could be eligible for this.”
The Republican—who has become more vocal in his criticism of Trump since announcing his retirement plans last year—suggested that if someone truly had “lawfare used against them” and “was found innocent,” then compensation was a fair idea.
But this didn’t seem to be the intention of the fund, he said, calling it “horrible politics” and “horrible timing.”
“Whoever did it should be fired,” he said.
Tillis noted that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche encountered major pushback as he tried to bolster support for the $1.776 billion fund at a Republican Senate meeting Thursday.
“But I do think that there was a very large number of people that said, ‘Look, we’ve got to tackle affordability. We’ve got to have a coherent strategy in Iran. We’ve got to start looking at Putin as a real threat to the western world. And this is all a distraction,’” he said. “And some people even think it may look like self-dealing.”
Tillis concluded: “I think whoever advised the president on this being a wise idea should not—they should not plan on coming in the office on Monday if they’re working for me.
“It was a bad idea. And there’s no way you’re going to make it better in its current form.”
Tillis has dubbed the fund a “payout for punks,” amid revelations that claimants of the compensation—and how much cash is handed out—can remain anonymous to the public.
Purportedly intended for “victims” of perceived overreach by Joe Biden’s Justice Department, the slush fund is already being eyed up by Trump allies including his former fixer Michael Cohen and Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde.
In a statement defending the controversial fund, Blanche argued: “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.”
