WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a government watchdog's request for a court order temporarily blocking the Trump administration from forging ahead with a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for compensating people who claim to be victims of a weaponized government.
But the judge ended a hearing by issuing a “fair warning” to President Donald Trump's administration: “Don’t play possum with this court,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon told a government attorney.
Leon ruled from the bench in favor of the administration, which argued that the watchdog's lawsuit is moot because acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress last month that the government is scrapping its plans for the fund. Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, said he accepts Blanche's representation for now.
The judge's refusal to issue a temporary restraining order isn't the final word on the fate of the government’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund." Leon said he will consider a separate request by the plaintiffs — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — for a preliminary injunction that would block payouts from the fund on a more permanent basis.
A different federal judge, sitting in Alexandria, Virginia, already has temporarily blocked the fund's operations. However, that order by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema is due to expire Friday unless she extends it after a hearing on the same day.
The administration created the fund last month to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The Justice Department hasn’t formed the five-member commission that will decide on payout criteria, so there has been no money paid out nor claims accepted.
The fund has generated a fierce bipartisan backlash. Even many of the Republican president's allies are opposed to compensating rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. During his congressional testimony, Blanche wouldn’t rule out the possibility that rioters who assaulted police at the Capitol could be eligible for fund payouts.
“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche said at the House hearing.
“Not moving forward ever?” asked Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat.
“Correct,” Blanche answered.
Leon asked Justice Department attorney Andrew Block why Blanche doesn't formally rescind his May 18 order establishing the fund.
“I don't know the reason for that,” Block said.
Block said Blanche's statements to Congress are sufficient to moot the watchdog's claims. He also argued that the group doesn't have the legal standing to bring them.
Plaintiffs' attorney Nikhel Sus noted that Trump himself contradicted Blanche's testimony. During an interview on June 3, a day after Blanche testified before Congress, Trump expressed support for continuing with the fund despite the Virginia judge's ruling against it.
“On paper, the fund is still a legally operating entity," Sus said. “Nothing has changed.”
A federal judge in Florida overseeing Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS ordered Trump’s attorneys to respond to “grievous allegations” by settlement critics that the president abandoned his claims to avoid the court’s scrutiny of an illegal deal. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams gave them until Friday to respond in writing to allegations of collusion and whether the case should be reopened because the court was the “victim of a fraud.”
In Virginia, attorneys from the legal advocacy group Democracy Forward are seeking a court order halting the fund’s implementation and preventing the Trump administration from disbursing any payouts from it. The plaintiffs in the Virginia case include a fired prosecutor and a college professor acquitted of assaulting federal agents at a protest.
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