A federal judge in Virginia on Friday extended her block on the Trump administration’s “anti-weaponization fund”, frustrated that the Department of Justice has not said under the penalty of perjury whether the fund is truly dead.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.U.S.District Judge Leonie Brinkema said “none of those statements” from Blanche or the president, “have been made under the penalty of perjury.”Earlier this month, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told House lawmakers, “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period,” but the next day, President Donald Trump told reporters, “I don’t know,” when asked whether the fund was on hold or eliminated.Brinkema also drilled down on Justice Department attorney Andrew Block, who has not answered why the Department of Justice has not formally rescinded its memo related to the creation of the “anti-weaponization fund.”“I don’t have the ability to speak directly to the attorney general,” Block said.“I can not believe given the significance you don’t have an answer,” Brinkema shot back.
She added “there’s a huge gap in the record” if we don’t have an answer to that question.The ongoing lawsuit stems from the Trump administration’s announcement last month that it planned to set up a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” aimed at paying people who have “suffered weaponization and lawfare” from the federal government.The fund could have been used to pay those who were charged and later pardoned by Trump for their action on Jan.6, 2021, at the U.S.
Capitol.In an interview last week with NBC News, the president didn’t rule out paying Jan.
6 attendees who were later charged for assaulting law enforcement officers.Brinkema on Friday said she’s concerned that if this fund isn’t really dead, it might come back in a different form.“When the President of the United States says he’s going ...