$1.776B ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘loser of an idea’: David Urban
Center
Former Trump adviser David Urban on Monday called the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund a “loser of an idea.” The administration recently scrapped the fund, which was designed to compensate those who claim they were wrongfully investigated or prosecuted by the federal government, after it received mounting pushback from Republican lawmakers. It…
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will testify before a House Appropriations Committee panel on Tuesday afternoon on oversight of the Justice Department. The hearing comes as the Trump administration has faced heavy scrutiny over its $1.776 billion compensation fund, which would help settle claims between those who say the government wrongfully prosecuted them. The “anti-weaponization”…
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that Bill Pulte, a “home-building heir” who currently oversees the Federal Housing Finance Agency, would step in as acting Director of National Intelligence to replace Tulsi Gabbard. The decision has drawn swift bipartisan criticism over Pulte’s total lack of experience and what is viewed as an effort to “weaponize” the U.S. intelligence apparatus. "We don't need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there," declared Senator Majority Leader John Thune (R-SC). “If he's somebody we want in that position permanently, he's got a lengthy road ahead of him.”Fears over weaponization stem from Pulte’s previous efforts to target Trump’s enemies. As the head of the FHFA, he used his position to suggest criminal charges for mortgage fraud against the likes of New York Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook — all of whom drew the president’s ire over various incidents.With all this in mind, Senator Mark Warner, a top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, shared Thune’s sentiments, blasting at length: “This appointment speaks volumes about what this president expects from the nation's top intelligence official. Rather than selecting a respected national security professional capable of delivering independent judgments, the president has chosen an official who has demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution.”“Americans have already seen Mr. Pulte use the powers of his office at the Federal Housing Finance Agency to pursue the president's grievances and lend credibility to dubious prosecutions of President Trump's perceived political opponents,” Warner continued. “Elevating him to oversee the Intelligence Community makes clear that this president is not looking for an intelligence leader who will follow the facts or speak truth to power, but rather someone who will be willing to shape intelligence around the president's wishes, regardless of the cost to the American people.”What’s more, Warner took issue with Pulte’s bona fides, or lack thereof, arguing, "The concern is not only that Mr. Pulte lacks the ‘extensive national security experience' required by statute for the job, which was created after intelligence failures led to the deaths of thousands of Americans on 9/11. It is that he appears to have been selected precisely because the White House believes he will provide the narrative it wants, not the intelligence we need. Americans have every reason to worry about what happens when the official charged with overseeing everything from counterterrorism to foreign election threats is chosen for his willingness to advance the president's political agenda rather than his experience. That is how intelligence becomes politicized, how inconvenient facts disappear, how agencies charged with protecting our democracy instead become tools to manipulate it, and how Americans are left more vulnerable to a terrorist attack."Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) put it more simply: “I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job.” And Senator Angus King (Independent-ME), who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, rounded things out, “By any objective assessment — in terms of experience, expertise, background — this appointment makes no sense.”Journalist Chris Hayes summed up the collective assessment well, posting, “This is so utterly insane I’m at a loss. But it makes sense if you want to turn the entire U.S. intelligence apparatus into a tool for domestic persecution and domination.”
The Trump administration is pressing ahead with a legal agreement that permanently shields President Donald Trump, his family members, and his businesses from any IRS probes predating the deal — even as the controversial $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" that emerged from the same settlement has been effectively killed off, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.Under the deal, the IRS is "forever barred" from pursuing any claims related to Trump's tax filings that predated the settlement, according to Bloomberg. A person familiar with the matter told the outlet that the decision to shelve the fund does not affect the audit immunity provision.The fund — created last month as part of a settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns — drew immediate bipartisan fire. Critics labeled it a taxpayer-funded "slush fund" that could enrich Jan. 6 defendants who received presidential pardons.Two police officers who defended the Capitol during the riot sued to block the fund, calling it a vehicle "to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name." U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema temporarily halted the fund on May 29, barring the administration from transferring money or considering claims.By Monday, an administration source told Axios bluntly: "It's dead for now."Senate Democrats piled on, with Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) introducing legislation dubbed the Drain the Slush Fund Act. Schiff called it "one of the most brazenly corrupt schemes we've ever seen from a U.S. president."The Justice Department said it "disagrees strongly" with the court's ruling but would comply. The White House referred questions to Trump's personal legal team, which did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.
Republican senators are still unconvinced that President Trump is dropping his $1.8 billion anti-weaponization slush fund—and want assurance that Trump won’t use taxpayer funds to pay off his allies. Without it, their own immigration reconciliation bill may also be in jeopardy. On Monday, the Department of Justice announced that it’d be holding back on its plans for the fund after a federal judge ordered them paused until June 12. While the administration promised to abide, Republican senators are unconvinced it’s a permanent end. “If it means it’s completely pulled, then that would satisfy me, but I haven’t heard anybody say that that is actually what is happening,” Senator Lisa Murkowski told Politico. Senator Shelley Moore Capito called for “more investigation” into the fund, while Senator James Langford urged the Trump administration to “say what they actually mean” regarding the fund. “The reconciliation bill looks like a broken arm with the bones sticking out,” Senator John Kennedy added. “They have to abide by the district court decision—that’s in the Constitution. I’d have to know more about their position on the weaponization fund to know whether it would be enough to dislodge the reconciliation bill.”The continued questions about the slush fund suggest that there is much more internal discord among the GOP Senate than initially thought—and less inherent rallying around President Trump. This all comes as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche prepares to testify before the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday, where he will most surely be asked about the future of the slush fund.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters “we don’t need a weaponized” director of national intelligence when asked about President Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte, the homebuilder and director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), to serve as acting head of the nation’s intelligence services. Thune pointed out that Pulte, who has come…
Norman Eisen, the former White House ethics czar who has become one of the most aggressive legal thorns in Donald Trump's side, filed a new lawsuit Monday on behalf of former January 6 prosecutors, refusing to accept media reports suggesting the administration's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund has been quietly shelved."We are NOT accepting media reports as proof that the $1.8B slush fund and 'settlements' associated with it are dead," Eisen wrote on X, announcing the filing. "That's why we have just filed a new lawsuit to make sure this ENDS."The complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief was filed in federal court Monday, Case 1:26-cv-01907, on behalf of two former prosecutors who handled January 6 cases. It names Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and IRS Chief Executive Officer Frank Bisignano as defendants, along with the Justice Department and the Treasury Department.According to language visible in the filing, the lawsuit argues that the fund's creation, along with its assertion that January 6 prosecutors acted for improper political reasons, has harmed the plaintiffs. The complaint notes that January 6 insurrectionists have already been "hailing the creation of the Fund," underscoring why the legal fight cannot be considered over based on press reports alone.The filing was made in partnership with Platkin LLP, Washington Litigation Group, and Heaphy Smith.The post was quickly reposted by Barbara Comstock, the former Republican congresswoman from Virginia who has become a vocal Trump critic.BREAKING: we are NOT accepting media reports as proof that the $1.8B slush fund & "settlements" associated with it are deadThat's why we @DDFund_ have just filed a new lawsuit to make sure this ENDS --on behalf of former J6 prosecutors with Platkin LLP, WLG & Heaphy Smith pic.twitter.com/lT49UzKs3H— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) June 1, 2026
Supporters of Donald Trump who stormed the Capitol on Jan 6, and then saw their lives fall apart in criminal charges, lost jobs and shattered families, had a brief glimmer of hope after the president’s Justice Department agreed to a $1.8 billion “slush fund” that would compensate them for their troubles.But late Monday, the president snatched it away, and longtime GOP campaign consultant Rick Wilson was ready and willing to taunt them for getting “played” by the president. Again.Late Monday, Axios reported that the DOJ, on Trump’s orders, was pulling the plug on going forward with the $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" after massive blowback from Republican lawmakers who raked acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over the coals during a closed-door meeting last week.With the fund reportedly “dead,” Wilson used his Substack platform to pummel Trump’s MAGA fans for trusting the president again."You stormed the Capitol. You used bear spray on a cop, shat in the Rotunda, hunted for Mike Pence, or you just milled around in your Temu Tactical gear demanding Nancy Pelosi’s whereabouts…and you got caught. And many, many of you. rightly. went to jail. Let’s be clear: you f——— deserved it,” he wrote.“But the last couple weeks have been good, right? Because the word went out. There was going to be money. Real money. A $1.8 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund,' a glittering, gold-leaf taxpayer-funded piñata, and you, patriot, were going to swing the bat and collect. And then, on a Friday, one judge named Leonie Brinkema picked up a pen and the whole thing seized up like a Cybertruck in a car wash," he continued before bluntly pointing out, ”You should have seen this coming, because the pattern is older than most of your felonies. Welcome to the Trump Suckers Club, gentlemen. The dues are steep and the membership is permanent."According to Wilson, Trump's DOJ deal was just another in a long line of promises built on bluster and little else, that included his plan to get Mexico to pay for his border wall that US taxpayers ended being on the hook for, as well as, "He told you he’d release the Epstein files. For the last 2 months he’s been telling you the very real Iran War is over, done, settled, done and dusted.""Here’s the part where I’m supposed to feel for you, and I want to be honest about my own limitations as a human being: I don’t. I give exactly zero f---s for your imaginary suffering and well-deserved loss," he pronounced."I have no emotion for you beyond contempt and revulsion. Not even a little. Because none of you were owed a dime. The fund was never about justice. It was a slush fund, a loyalty bribe, taxpayer money laundered through a fake lawsuit Trump filed against his own government to compensate the people who beat cops with flagpoles in his name," he wrote. "Your god-emperor, your tariff-wielding strongman, your two-scoops Caesar, got stopped cold by one Clinton appointee in one Virginia courtroom on one ordinary Friday afternoon and just rolled over. One judge said maintain the status quo, and the whole $1.8 billion edifice just deflated. No fight. No appeal that mattered yet. Just a slow, sad hiss.""So pour one out, fellas. Frame the indictment. Hang the mugshot. You earned those. The money was always going to be someone else’s. It’s always going to be someone else’s. That’s the deal, and it’s the only deal he’s ever actually kept," he concluded.
