Senate Majority Leader John Thune broke with the notion of President Donald Trump securing, via his Department of Justice, a $1.7 billion fund to pay people “unfairly” investigated by Democrats.
The top Republican in the Senate spoke to reporters on Tuesday as he walked into the Capitol when he was asked about creation of the new “anti-weaponization fund.”
“Yeah, not a big fan,” Thune said in response to a question from The Independent. “And I’m not sure exactly how they intend to use it, but my understanding is that was just announced. But yeah, I don’t see a purpose for that.”
The remarks come the same days as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on Capitol Hill to testify about the Department of Justice’s budget the day. During which time, he faced grilling from Democrats about the anti-weaponization weaponization fund.
Blanche, who took over Attorney General Pam Bondi last month, announced the fund on Monday to settle a $10 billion lawsuit that Trump, his family and real estate and hotel company had filed against the Internal Revenue Service after a contractor leaked his tax returns to The New York Times.
The fund will be administered by a five-person committee commission that Blanche, a former defense counsel for the president, will nominate. One member will be chosen in consultation with Congress.
The fund will have the authority to “issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed to claimants” used from the Department of Justice’s judgment fund. The fund is a permanent appropriation that allows the Department of Justice to settle litigation and pay judgments and does not require authorization from Congress.
“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” Blanche said on Monday.
On Capitol Hill, Blanche said that the move is not unprecedented and added that it was not only related to investigations by the Biden administration or for people who perpetrated crimines on January 6.
“It’s not limited to Republicans,” he said. “There’s no limitation on the claims.”
-Andrew Feinberg contributed reporting
