Trump spends £1.3bn in 'Biden Victims' Fund with Taxpayer Money

The Trump administration has announced the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate individuals who claim they were mistreated by the Justice Department under Joe Biden's leadership. This initiative, referred to as the 'anti-weaponisation fund,' was unveiled as part of a legal settlement between Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leak of his tax returns.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that this move is a "lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponisation to be heard and seek redress." However, the proposal has faced immediate criticism from Democrats and government watchdogs, who have called it "corrupt" and unprecedented. They argue that the fund would unfairly benefit individuals close to the president and could lead to frivolous claims of political persecution.

The fund was announced following the dismissal of Trump’s lawsuit in a filing submitted to a federal court in Florida. The case had been on the verge of being thrown out before Trump’s legal team withdrew it, having reached a settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ), which Trump controls. On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of supporters involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Since then, his Justice Department has approved payments to supporters linked to the Trump-Russia investigation and has investigated and prosecuted some of his perceived adversaries.

Representative Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, criticized the fund as a "slush" fund. He argued that the initiative is designed to divert $1.7 billion in taxpayer dollars into a large slush fund for Trump at the DOJ to distribute to his "private militia of insurrectionists, rioters, and white supremacists."

Trump’s legal team suggested in their court filing that the resolution would not be reviewable by a judge. However, a group of 93 members of Congress has filed a brief, setting up a potential challenge.

It remains unclear who will benefit from the fund, but its establishment reflects Trump’s long-standing claim that the Justice Department during the Biden administration was used against him. He has pointed to the dismissed criminal charges he faced between his first and second terms, including allegations of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Several of Trump’s aides were also prosecuted, as were hundreds of his supporters who stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of the election results in 2021. Merrick Garland, who served as attorney general during the Biden administration, has repeatedly denied accusations of politicization and claimed his decisions were based on facts, evidence, and the law.

His Justice Department also investigated former President Biden for handling classified information and brought separate tax and gun prosecutions against Biden’s son, Hunter. Despite this, Trump’s Justice Department has actively pursued his retribution campaign and grievances. It has brought criminal charges against some of his political opponents and launched a wide-ranging investigation aiming to prove a years-long conspiracy between law enforcement and intelligence officials to undermine Trump’s political prospects.

No charges have been brought in that investigation, and it is uncertain whether any will ever be.

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