In congressional testimony on Tuesday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended a nearly $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund" created to pay claims to those who contend they have been unjustly investigated and prosecuted. He did not say if he would direct the commission to block those convicted of violence in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot from receiving compensation.
Blanche testified before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about the Trump administration’s 2027 budget request of $41.2 billion for the Justice Department –– a 13% increase over the previous fiscal year.
In a statement Monday announcing the $1.776 billion program, created to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his tax returns being leaked, Blanche said the fund will create “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress."
During a press briefing Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance was asked about the fund, and said, "We're trying to compensate people where the book was thrown at them. They were mistreated by the legal system."
As part of that settlement to resolve Trump's $10 billion lawsuit over his tax return being leaked, the Justice Department also agreed to be “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED from prosecuting or pursuing” examinations and claims against the president, his family and businesses "which arise out of (1) any matters that were raised or could have been raised in the Case or Pending Agency Claims; (2) Lawfare and/or Weaponization; or (3) any matters currently pending or that could be pending (including tax returns filed before the Effective Date). The document, signed by Blanche, was dated Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., ranking member on the committee, criticized the program, calling it a “slush fund to dole out taxpayer dollars to the president's supporters.”
Several Democrats pressed the acting attorney general about setting up restrictions on the fund, such as preventing those charged with violent crimes during the attack on the U.S. Capitol from receiving payouts.
Blanche responded in one exchange that “anyone in this country is eligible to apply.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., asked, “But why not this specific issue … convicted of violent acts against police officers. Do you feel they should get compensation after being convicted of violent acts?”
“My feelings don't matter,” Blanche replied. “My mind is not limiting to say this, yes, I will commit to this or that. What I will commit to is making sure that the commissioners are effectively doing their jobs, and that includes setting guidelines like you're describing.”
The acting attorney general told lawmakers there will be quarterly reports with information about recipients of fund payouts. When pressed during the hearing, Blanche clarified that there may be some details that are not released.
“The reason why I want to be careful in my answer is because there's obviously laws that exist around privacy that ... may prevent some of the information that the commission takes in from being fully public,” he said. “Beyond that, there will be full transparency.”
Blanche insisted the creation of the fund was “unusual …. but not unprecedented” and added in an exchange with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, “There is an unprecedented nature of what we did yesterday in response to years and years of weaponization."
He said the fund is "not limited to Republicans. …. It's not limited to the Biden weaponization. It's not limited in any way, scope or form to Jan. 6 or to Jack Smith. There's no limitation on the claims.”
At one point, he even included former President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden in a response about who could apply. Hunter Biden was convicted in 2024 of three felonies in a federal gun trial and pleaded guilty to nine federal tax charges, but was pardoned by his father.
“It is entirely voluntary if an individual wants to apply and assert that they were a victim of weaponization,” Blanche said. “And the commission can do anything, according to what was set up yesterday, from issuing an apology to the claimant … to awarding compensation.”
Many of the lawmakers on the committee focused their questions on how the fund was created, who would benefit, the process by which settlements would be determined and how the commission would be set up.
Five commissioners will judge applications to the fund, and four commissioners will be appointed by the attorney general, and a fifth will be chosen by the attorney general “in consultation with leadership of this body,” Blanche said Tuesday. He said he expected names of commissioners to be announced within 30 days.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., speculated that the president would suggest who should be named to the commission.
“I have no idea if we will or not. I really don't,” Blanche responded.
The acting attorney general also likened the settlement to the Keepseagle v. Vilsack case, which led to the Obama administration creating a $680 million compensation fund for Indigenous people who accused the Agriculture Department of racism.
But Van Hollen called that characterization “incredibly deceptive,” noting that a federal judge has signed off on the original 2011 Keepseagle agreement, as well as a framework for distributing the remaining funds five years later.
Van Hollen also raised the Justice Department’s disclosure of more than 3 million records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act and inquired if Blanche would commit to not recommending that the president pardon Epstein’s longtime confidant and convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, to which the acting attorney general said he would.
Later in the hearing, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., asked Blanche if he would apologize to women abused by the disgraced financier for the DOJ making public files with their identifying information and images.
“Any time we release a victim's name that shouldn't be released, we have failed as a Department of Justice,” Blanche said. “ And so we have to do everything that we can to not fail.”