Outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the building. (Photo by Tyler Merbler via Wikipedia/CC 2.0)
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The $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, part of a deal to end Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, is roiling Capitol Hill. Critics are worried that people convicted of crimes when they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and since pardoned by Trump would be eligible for payouts.
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Capitol Hill Republicans have finally found an issue in which they are willing to buck Donald Trump.
Some GOP members of Congress, including a few in leadership positions (no, not House Speaker Mike Johnson; the nascent intra-party resistance is on the Senate side), are not pleased with the administration’s $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund (AWF).
The Department of Justice signed off on the account, which will be used to compensate individuals that a governing board — that is not subject to Congressional oversight, but whose appointees Trump could fire — deems have been victimized by over-zealous government actions.
The AWF was created as part of a deal in which Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
He filed the lawsuit on Jan. 25, claiming he was owed the money because the IRS failed to stop a contractor from revealing his and other wealthy taxpayers’ filing information six years ago. The contractor pleaded guilty in October 2023 to disclosing tax return information without authorization and subsequently was sentenced to five years in prison.
Audit absolution anger: Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle also are not pleased with the no-audit component of the deal.
In exchange for Trump dropping his lawsuit, the IRS agreed to end pending audits of Trump, his family members, and their family-run businesses.
That move, per some accounts, could let Trump et al off the hook for more than $100 million in due taxes.
Slush fund backlash: The AWF fund, however, is what has really energized Trump critics and apparently revealed that some Republicans still have a political spine.
AFW detractors say most of the money most likely will go to people who claim that they were targeted under former President Joe Biden’s administration.
They also are worried that J6ers will get AWF payouts. These are the individuals who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from officially certifying Biden’s election.
More than 1,500 people were eventually arrested in connection with their actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Most of them confessed to were convicted of federal criminal charges. All were pardoned by Trump on Jan. 20, 2025.
AWF opponents, who extend to government watchdog groups and legal scholars beyond Washington, D.C., were quick to characterize it as a slush fund for Trump supporters. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina had a folksier description: “stupid on stilts.”
Funding legislation halted: In addition to talk about the fund, lawmakers also walked. Literally.
Anger over the fund prompted GOP Senate leadership to end work last week on the bill that would finally restore funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol.
With the debates still raging in connection with the AWF and Trump’s audit amnesty, those topics are perfect for a batch of Saturday Shout Outs this weekend. (The AWF fund’s $1.776 billion also is this weekend’s By the Numbers figure.) So, with that ol’ blog feature double duty taken care of, here goes.
The articles’ order is random, but since this is a tax blog, I’ve listed those related to IRS audits first.
Audit Immunity for Trump Family Puts I.R.S. in a Bind — Federal law prohibits the Internal Revenue Service from halting an audit at the direction of the president or his aides, notes New York Times reporter Andrew Duehren.
What to Know About the Trump Administration Ending Tax Audits of Trump — The agreement is completely untested, writes Richard Rubin in the Wall Street Journal. He also notes, “It is unclear who would have legal standing to challenge the agreement in court, because it would have to be someone who could show that they were specifically harmed.”
Trump immunity from IRS audit shocks experts, who warn it could undermine trust in tax system — Details of IRS audits are not public and the merits of each side’s arguments are impossible to tell. But the way the president’s case against his own government’s IRS was resolved is highly unusual, writes the AP’s Bernard Condon and Fatima Hussein.
Trump Just Pardoned Himself and His Family Forever — In addition to limiting IRS examinations, Jeffrey Toobin writes in a guest essay for the New York Times that, “There will be no cases against the Trumps before the I.R.S. ‘or other agencies or departments.’ Could Mr. Trump’s immunity extend beyond taxes? The Justice Department, which brings federal criminal cases, may, as I interpret it, also be barred from charging the Trumps with other crimes.”
Ted Cruz says GOP senators were ‘screaming’ at Todd Blanche during ‘anti-weaponization’ fund briefing — The private meeting came hours before the Senate postponed a critical vote to advance a partisan funding bill for ICE and Border Patrol, write Brennan Leach and Kyla Guilfoil in their piece for NBC News.
GOP senators balk at Trump’s $1.8-billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, force delay in key vote — In a striking display of defiance, GOP senators abruptly derailed plans to vote on legislation to fund Trump’s immigration crackdown amid deep disagreements over security funding for a White House ballroom and a $1.8-billion fund to pay people who claim to have been politically persecuted, write Los Angeles Times reporters Ana Ceballos and Justine McDaniel.
‘Stupid on stilts’: GOP Sen. Tillis rips Trump administration ‘anti-weaponization’ fund — The senior U.S. Senator from North Carolina expanded on his widely shared social media assessment of the fund in an interview with Spectrum News’ Reuben Jones. “When you take money from me to give to a purpose that I vehemently disagree with, that’s tyranny, and that’s what that account is,” Tillis added.
Durbin warns DOJ against compensating ‘rioters’ in ‘anti-weaponization’ fund — Dick Dubin, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, says the “anti-weaponization” fund would undermine law enforcement safety and encourage political violence, writes Finya Swai in an article for The Hill.
January 6 officers sue Trump over $1.8bn fund, alleging ‘presidential corruption’ — The Guardian reports on the lawsuit filed by Capitol police officers, one active and the other retired, in which they allege the $1.8 billion fund unlawfully rewards January 6 rioters and allies.
Trump’s $1.8 billion payout fund isn’t required to reveal how it actually works — Controversy has raged over the fund, but basic details about it remain unknown, write Washington Post reporters Mark Berman and Jeremy Roebuck.
And the perfect way to close this weekend’s shout outs is, of course, with comments from the man who initiated the whole controversy.
Trump doubles down on $1.8 billion ‘slush fund’ that killed his agenda, spurred Republican rebellion — Fox News cites a Trump Truth Social post in which he declared, “I gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti-Weaponization Fund to go forward. I could have settled my case, including the illegal release of my Tax Returns and the equally illegal BREAK IN of Mar-a-Lago, for an absolute fortune.”
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