DOJ announces $1.8bn fund to compensate Trump allies

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s administration created a nearly $1.8 billion fund to settle claims that the justice department improperly targeted his political allies in exchange for the president voluntarily dismissing his $10 billion lawsuit against the internal revenue service.The settlement creates an “AntiWeaponisation Fund” that will pay out legal claims to people who show they suffered “weaponisation” by US govt.The justice department said there are no partisan requirements to file a claim, but those terms have frequently been used by Trump and his allies to describe the criminal cases against them, including those who stormed the US Capitol on Jan6, 2021.“The machinery of govt should never be weaponised against any American, and it is this department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” acting attorney general Todd Blanche said.Blanche, a former personal lawyer to Trump who defended him in three criminal cases, will appoint four of the five members of the commission who will decide the merits of the claims. Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organisation, sued the IRS, arguing the agency should have done more to prevent a former contractor from disclosing their tax returns to media during the president’s first term.These returns showed that Trump paid little income taxes in many years, NYT reported in 2020. Trump filed the lawsuit personally, not in his capacity as president.REUTERS