The Justice Department announced Monday the creation of a $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" โ just hours after President Trump voluntarily dismissed his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the alleged leak of his personal tax returns.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the fund would be used to pursue cases involving "the improper use of government power to target political opponents, donors, and American citizens based on their beliefs." Critics argued that a politically appointed attorney general controlling a $1.7 billion fund targeting perceived enemies of the current administration is itself a form of weaponisation.
The dropped IRS lawsuit had alleged that IRS officials conspired with journalists to leak Trump's tax returns ahead of the 2020 election. The decision to drop it simultaneously with the fund announcement struck many observers as politically choreographed.
This is using the levers of justice to reward friends and punish enemies โ precisely what the DOJ should never do.
Senate Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the announcement "a direct assault on the rule of law," while Republican supporters hailed the fund as a long-overdue accountability mechanism.
