Trump Still Wants His MAGA Slush Fund… And His Cabinet Refuses To Sign Declarations That It’s Gone

from the schrodinger’s-slush-fund dept

In mid-May, the Todd Blanche-run DOJ agreed to “settle” the fake case Donald Trump had brought against his own IRS. The “settlement”? A $1.776 billion fund to pay reparations to the MAGA faithful. Much of that money was expected to flow to January 6th insurrectionists — many of them convicted of actual crimes that Trump himself wiped out via pardon the moment he was re-inaugurated. The whole thing was so hellishly corrupt that even Republicans in Congress started making noises about how problematic it was.

A couple weeks later, when Blanche had to testify before Congress, he said that the slush fund was dead, but he wouldn’t agree to sign anything making that official.

There have been multiple court cases about the fund, including one brought by Andrew Floyd, the former Assistant US Attorney for DC who led the prosecutions against January 6ers. In that case, Judge Leonie Brinkema told the DOJ that the case would be closed as moot if a bunch of Trump officials signed declarations under the penalty of perjury that the fund was really dead:

ORDERED that, to avoid any further litigation in this civil action, defendants Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr., and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent FILE a declaration under the penalty of perjury that they will not take any action to create or operate the Anti-Weaponization Fund, and that the Anti-Weaponization Fund will not proceed in any manner, or under any name. If such a declaration is not filed by June 19, 2026, the Court will issue a Scheduling Order and require defendants to file a responsive pleading by July 17, 2026

On Friday, the DOJ said “no, we will not file such declarations.” It claims that the government has made it clear already that the fund will not move forward and so they see no reason to file another declaration to that effect:

The Acting Attorney General has testified before Congress that the Fund is “not going forward, period.” House Appropriations Committee, Oversight Hearing – Department of Justice, at 40:30-42:50.1 Undersigned counsel have twice signed briefs reaffirming that “the Fund is not going forward.” And counsel for Defendants has twice said substantially the same thing in open court. All these statements were made against the backdrop of serious penalties for falsity. See 18 U.S.C. § 1001; Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b)–(c). So there is no reason why declarations should affect the Court’s mootness analysis.

This isn’t defying the court. The DOJ was given an option: have the case closed as moot if the declarations were filed, or have the case continue. This decision just means the case will continue — even as the DOJ keeps insisting it has already said the fund isn’t going to happen.

But Judge Brinkema has good reasons to be concerned that the DOJ is lying to her. After all, Trump and MAGA loyalists in the administration are apparently acting as though the fund is still going to happen.

It turns out that it’s not that simple. Behind the scenes, Justice Department and other Trump-administration officials have quietly assured allies that plans for some form of payout remain on track. I spoke with eight people familiar with the so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund—including current and former Justice Department officials, current and former members of Congress, a defense attorney, and political operatives close to the administration. All said that Justice Department officials and people close to the White House have indicated that the payout idea has not actually been scrapped. Rather, they say, officials are exploring whether elements of the fund can be reactivated while also examining alternative arrangements to make sure loyalists get compensated. Across the administration, and even within the Justice Department, officials have differing perspectives on whether the fund itself will ultimately be restored. But either way, officials see a path forward for the government to pay those who say they are victims of supposed government “weaponization.”

[….]

Those familiar with the internal conversations—all of whom spoke with me on the condition of anonymity because they feared possible retaliation—told me that the work is being kept quiet while the Trump administration waits for opposition to the fund to blow over. Crucially, the administration is also trying to avoid a fight over the payout plan, which has been deemed a political slush fund by critics, while the Senate considers Blanche’s nomination for attorney general.

So that seems like a pretty good reason for the judge to want signed declarations from officials in the Trump administration, even if it sounds like officials are working on ways that are less public to pay off insurrectionists.

Once again, in any other administration this entire thing would be seen as exponentially worse than Watergate. The fund is extraordinarily corrupt, but worse than that, it’s being dangled over the heads of literal insurrectionist criminals who tried to overturn the results of a free and fair Presidential election… and are now being told “if you keep being willing to break the law for Trump, we’ll pay you American taxpayer funds.”

In any normal world, this would end the Trump presidency.

Filed Under: anti-weaponization fund, donald trump, leonie brinkema, slush fund, todd blanche