The Trump administration’s newly created $1.7 billion account for “victims” of the Biden administration will benefit claimants whose identities can remain anonymous.
Donald Trump and the DOJ on Monday reached a settlement in the president’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns. As part of the terms of the agreement, the DOJ will be setting up a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to dish out claims to people who say the Biden administration persecuted them.
One of the curious details about the fund, according to the settlement agreement, is that those who get paid will remain anonymous to the general public, as will the amount they receive.
“On a quarterly basis, or otherwise directed by the Attorney General, the Anti-Weaponization Fund shall provide to the Attorney General a confidential written report that includes the name and address of each claimant who has received any relief and if so, nature of such relief,” the agreement states.
Trump has considerable authority over the five-member commission, the agreement explains. Each will be appointed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney. Trump can also remove anyone without cause. One member of the commission, it states, “shall be chosen in consultation with congressional leadership.”
Though Trump himself will not be allowed to directly receive claim payments, entities tied to him could—a point critics have noted.
“This is one of the single most corrupt acts in American history,” said Donald Sherman, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Blanche defended the fund in a statement, saying, “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.”
A spokesperson for the president’s legal team told Politico in a statement that read in part: “President Trump, his family, supporters, and countless other America First Patriots were illegally targeted by the Democrat-lead [sic] law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, and the IRS.” They added: “Trump is entering 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.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Trump’s personal lawyer, Alejandro Brito, for comment.
Trump himself, at a healthcare affordability event on Monday, insisted the settlement agreement has been “very well received.” He also claimed to have not had a role in it.
“I wasn’t involved in the whole creation of it, and the negotiation. But this is reimbursing people that were horribly treated, horribly treated, it’s anti-weaponization. They’ve been weaponized,” he said.
“They’ve been, in some cases, imprisoned wrongly,” he continued. “They paid legal fees that they didn’t have. They’ve gone bankrupt, their lives have been destroyed. And they turned out to be right. I mean, it was a terrible period of time in the history of our country. And they worked on it... I know the Justice Department, it’s really been working on it very hard.”
Trump said last March that there were discussions within the administration about paying Jan. 6 rioters, whom he called “patriots.”
