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

Brinkema has given the Justice Department one week to formally put in writing that the Anti-Weaponization Fund is terminated and will not be reinstated. This ruling follows a decision earlier in the week by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, who had rejected a separate emergency intervention request from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Judge Leon had initially relied on the Justice Department’s representations that the fund had been effectively abandoned, but he simultaneously warned administration officials against viewing his decision as permission to revive the program, stating, “I give the Justice Department this warning: Don’t play possum with me.”

The Anti-Weaponization Fund, which emerged from President Trump’s lawsuit settlement with the IRS, was intended to compensate alleged victims of government “lawfare.” However, its creation immediately drew sharp criticism from Democrats, who decried it as a “slush fund” potentially benefiting Trump’s political allies and individuals involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. During a hearing before Judge Leon, Justice Department attorney Andrew Block argued that Blanche’s congressional testimony effectively mooted CREW’s challenge. However, Leon repeatedly questioned why Blanche had not formally rescinded the May 18 order establishing the fund’s procedures, a question Block could not answer.