Clinton Judge Leonie Brinkema Blocks Trump DOJ’s $1.2B Anti-Weaponization Fund, Warns Against “Playing Possum”

A federal judge has issued a significant warning to the Trump Justice Department, telling them not to “play possum” regarding the $1.2 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, appointed by President Clinton, on Friday indefinitely extended a court order that prevents the implementation of the fund. This move comes despite recent assurances from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that the fund would not proceed, and another judge’s earlier decision to decline intervention based on those assurances.

Critics argue that without the formal rescission of the settlement agreement and departmental directives that created the fund, there remains a possibility for it to be revived. Judge Brinkema found the public statements from administration officials insufficient to allay concerns that the fund could be reanimated. She specifically cited President Trump’s public disappointment that the fund was “not going forward” as evidence that it might “rear its head” in the future. Trump himself stated over the weekend that he “would pay them the kind of money that they deserve,” expressing his desire to continue with the fund.