Trump Is Reportedly Reconsidering His Politically and Legally Contentious 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'

President Donald Trump reportedly is reconsidering the $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" described in his May 18 settlement agreement with the IRS, which was designed to compensate people who claim they were targeted by the Biden administration for "improper and unlawful political, personal, and/or ideological reasons." That brazenly corrupt scheme , which provoked vigorous objections from Republican legislators and ran into two judicial roadblocks last week, "has become a distraction," an unnamed administration official told Axios .

Although "the president believes government was weaponized against people," that official added, "this isn't the time and vehicle" for addressing those grievances. In other words, doling out taxpayer money to Trump's allies under the pretext of a lawsuit that pitted the president against agencies he oversees turned out to be unexpectedly controversial. It's a mystery why Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche ever thought that plan was a good idea.

Trump sued the IRS and the Treasury Department in January, preposterously alleging that an IRS contractor's illegal leaking of his tax returns had caused "at least" $10 billion in damages. In addition to offering an improbable estimate of the injury he had suffered, Trump missed the statutory deadline for filing such claims. And although he argued that the IRS had failed to properly oversee its contractors, it was not clear whether the agency could be held liable for the crimes of someone it did not employ. But the Justice Department, which was charged with representing the IRS in court, never bothered to mount a defense.

That failure underlined the blatant conflicts of interest created by the case, both sides of which were represented by lawyers who work for Trump. "I'm supposed to work out a settlement with myself," Trump acknowledged a few days after filing the lawsuit.

That bizarre situation prompted Kathleen Williams, the federal judge overseeing the case in the Southern District of Florida, to question whether it involved a genuine controversy between adverse parties, as required for the lawsuit to proceed. Williams ordered briefing on that issue by May 20. The Justice Department dodged that order by announcing the settlement, which Williams never had a chance to review, two days before the deadline.

Blanche "did not want the Justice Department to go into court and fight the suit, as it normally would, but also did not want to settle it by paying Mr. Trump directly," The New York Times reports . Blanche reportedly thought "ending the case by funneling taxpayer money straight to the president" would be "politically untenable." But if Blanche was trying to avoid a political backlash, he failed abysmally.

The result of Trump's admitted self-dealing was not pretty. The settlement agreement described the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which had nothing to do with Trump's claims against the IRS, as a response to abuses of "government power" by "Democrat elected officials, political and career federal employees, contractors, and agents." It said the attorney general would appoint the five board members charged with doling out the money, all of whom would serve at the president's pleasure. The board would "determine its own procedures," which it could reveal or keep secret "in its discretion." Its decisions would be recorded in a "confidential written report" to the attorney general. And it would "cease processing claims" by December 1, 2028, a month and a half before Trump leaves office.

Although the Justice Department said "there are no partisan requirements to file a claim," Trump's description of the fund belied that assurance. "I am helping others, who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration, receive, at long last, JUSTICE!" he explained . Those "others" presumably included the 1,600 or so Capitol rioters whom Trump pardoned on the first day of his second term, since he had repeatedly portrayed them as victims of politically motivated government persecution.