Trump weaponization fund faces suit from Jan. 6 prosecutor

A former federal prosecutor who worked on Jan. 6 cases, the watchdog group Common Cause and other Trump administration targets sued Friday to block payouts from the administration’s $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund, opening the first direct court challenge to a program critics say would reward President Donald Trump’s allies and exclude his opponents.

The lawsuit turns days of political backlash into a legal fight. The plaintiffs say the fund, announced after a settlement tied to Trump’s IRS lawsuit, was created without congressional approval and would let the executive branch distribute public money through a process that favors Trump supporters over people investigated or sued by his administration.

ABC News reported that Common Cause, former federal prosecutor Brendan Ballou and other plaintiffs filed the complaint on Friday. They asked a judge to stop any payouts before the claims process begins and said the fund has no clear statutory basis. The complaint called it a program created “following a collusive agreement between the President and his own administration” with “no congressional authorization, no basis in law, and no accountability.”

Under the plan described by PBS News, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is to create the fund within 30 days and place it under five commissioners. Claims would be processed until Dec. 1, 2028. Blanche said the program was broader than Jan. 6 defendants or former special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions: “It’s not limited to, in any way, scope or form, to Jan. 6 or to Jack Smith.”

Ballou, now chief executive of the Public Integrity Project, said in an earlier Reuters report that the plaintiffs face threats, harassment and possible violence from the message the program sends about who deserves compensation. He said, “The increased risk of threats, harassment and violence our plaintiffs are suffering as a result confers standing.” The statement is part of the plaintiffs’ argument that they are already suffering harm and can sue before any money is paid.

How the fund would work

Reuters reported that the money stems from a settlement in Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS. At $1.776 billion, the fund is unusually large for a compensation system being set up by the executive branch rather than through a new appropriation from Congress. The plaintiffs say the administration cannot settle one of Trump’s disputes and then turn the proceeds into a public compensation pool on terms set by the same officials who approved it.

The planned five-member commission would decide who qualifies as a victim of alleged government “weaponization.” The lawsuit says the executive branch cannot define that class, appoint the commissioners and distribute nearly $1.8 billion without lawmakers’ approval. The case therefore asks the court to decide both whether the program is politically discriminatory and whether it is lawful.

Friday’s filing adds to widening scrutiny around the fund. ABC said the case makes it the subject of three federal lawsuits, suggesting the dispute is moving from political criticism to a broader legal test of how far the administration can go in defining victims of alleged government misconduct.

The timetable could force a quick decision. Blanche is supposed to stand up the fund within 30 days, and the claims window would remain open until Dec. 1, 2028. A judge must decide whether the plaintiffs have a concrete enough injury to sue now and whether the court should freeze the program before commissioners are named or any payments begin. If the case moves ahead, it could produce the first direct ruling on whether the Trump administration can create the fund without a new act of Congress.