Justice Department creates $1.776 billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ in IRS suit settlement

The Justice Department announced Monday the creation of a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of a settlement that resolves President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, the department said.

The fund will allow people who believe they were targeted for prosecution for political reasons to apply for payouts and apologies, a Justice Department statement said. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the arrangement provides “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress,” and added that “the machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American,” the department said.

The plan drew immediate criticism from Democrats and government watchdogs. A brief filed by 93 House Democrats urged a judge to block the resolution, and Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called the agreement a “racket” that would funnel taxpayer dollars to Trump’s allies, the filing said. Donald Sherman, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called it “one of the single most corrupt acts in American history,” the group said.

The Justice Department said the fund will be overseen by a five-member commission appointed by Blanche and that there are no “partisan requirements” for applicants. Trump’s attorneys had argued in court filings that the settlement would not be subject to judicial review, the filings show. A spokesman for Trump’s legal team said the president had been the “victim of illegal harassment and invasions of privacy,” the statement said.

The settlement follows a lawsuit Trump filed in Florida alleging that a leak of his and the Trump Organization’s confidential tax records caused reputational and financial harm, court documents show. The case also comes after former IRS contractor Charles Edward Littlejohn pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2024 for leaking tax information, prosecutors said. The Justice Department defended the fund by pointing to a $760 million Obama-era settlement that compensated Native American farmers for racial discrimination, the department said.

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