{"id":2076,"date":"2026-05-20T15:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/20\/january-6-police-officers-sue-trump-over-1-8bn-fund-alleging-presidential-corruption\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T15:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:41:09","slug":"january-6-police-officers-sue-trump-over-1-8bn-fund-alleging-presidential-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=2076","title":{"rendered":"January 6 police officers sue Trump over $1.8bn fund, alleging \u2018presidential corruption\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"446bbb6d-0229-4253-84b4-cfaecea74599\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"two men look to the side while seated\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/8ef324e85f974360ed10da01260455d911ffd4de\/1677_936_3832_3064\/master\/3832.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"371.8058455114823\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Daniel Hodges, a Metro officer, and Harry Dunn, a retired US Capitol police officer, listen during a hearing of the select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol in Washington DC on 21 June 2022.<\/span> Photograph: Al Drago\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"446bbb6d-0229-4253-84b4-cfaecea74599\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Daniel Hodges, a Metro officer, and Harry Dunn, a retired US Capitol police officer, listen during a hearing of the select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol in Washington DC on 21 June 2022.<\/span> Photograph: Al Drago\/Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">January 6 police officers sue Trump over $1.8bn fund, alleging \u2018presidential corruption\u2019<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Retired Capitol police officer and DC officer allege Trump\u2019s $1.8bn fund unlawfully rewards January 6 rioters and allies<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/live\/2026\/may\/20\/donald-trump-republicans-midterms-primaries-kentucky-redistricting-raul-castro-latest-news-updates\" data-link-name=\"in standfirst link\">US politics live \u2013 latest updates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Two police officers who clashed with rioters at the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection in 2021 have sued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Donald Trump<\/a> over plans to create a $1.776bn \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The fund, which critics have argued is essentially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/justice-department-announces-a-1-7-billion-anti-weaponization-fund-fund-to-compensate-trump-allies\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">a slush fund<\/a>, is set to compensate allies of the US president who he claims were victims of prosecutorial overreach.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"f1c66790-8a74-4ec2-9603-f0f8c54a7aaf\" data-spacefinder-role=\"richLink\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.RichLinkBlockElement\" class=\"dcr-47fhrn\">\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" data-link-name=\"rich-link-2 | 2\" data-component=\"rich-link\" data-name=\"placeholder\" class=\"dcr-1kyw41h\">\n<div data-format-theme=\"5\" data-format-design=\"0\" data-format-display=\"0\" class=\"dcr-1bg5532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/trump-dismiss-10-billion-dollar-irs-lawsuit\" class=\"dcr-1m887w9\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-ut4tvs\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1h5b6rb\">\n<div class=\"dcr-169d7yv\">Trump dismisses $10bn suit against IRS and creates $1.7bn \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-eurq8n\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fkf7vq\">Read more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">It was created as part of an agreement in which Trump and his sons dropped a $10bn long-shot lawsuit against the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Harry Dunn, a retired US Capitol police officer, and Daniel Hodges, a Metropolitan police department officer, filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.dcd.292539\/gov.uscourts.dcd.292539.1.0.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">complaint<\/a> in US district court in Washington DC on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIn the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Dunn and Hodges both defended the west front of the US Capitol during the insurrection attempt on 6 Jan. 2021. One rioter attempted to gouge Hodges\u2019 eyes, and the officer was later seen in infamous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EPw9T-WpF8A\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">video footage<\/a> nearly being crushed between metal doors as he attempted to prevent rioters from breaching the building. Dunn, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2024, has <a href=\"https:\/\/thegrio.com\/2023\/09\/27\/watch-harry-dunn-on-the-importance-of-treating-mental-health-issues\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">said <\/a>he struggles with PTSD following the attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cBy its very existence, the Fund encourages those who enacted violence in the President\u2019s name to continue to do so,\u201d the lawsuit says. \u201cDunn and Hodges already face credible threats of death and violence on regular basis; the Fund substantially increases the danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Todd Blanche, acting attorney general, and Scott Bessent, treasury secretary, are also named as defendants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In a Senate hearing on 19 May, Blanche<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/05\/19\/trump-doj-irs-fund-blanche-payouts-jan-6-rioters.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\"> refused to rule out<\/a> that January 6 rioters would receive payouts. He said it was up to the commissioners of the fund, which he will appoint and whom Trump can fire at any time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Reporters asked Trump on 18 May about the possibility that January 6 rioters would received money from the fund, and the president defended the possibility. \u201cThey\u2019ve been weaponized. They\u2019ve been in some cases imprisoned wrongly. They paid legal fees that they didn\u2019t have. They\u2019ve gone bankrupt. Their lives have been destroyed,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd they turned out to be right.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-politics\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US politics<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/donaldtrump\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/jan-6-hearings\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">January 6 hearings<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=January%206%20police%20officers%20sue%20Trump%20over%20%241.8bn%20fund,%20alleging%20%E2%80%98presidential%20corruption%E2%80%99&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/20\/jan-6-police-sue-trump-anti-weaponization-fund?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F20%2Fjan-6-police-sue-trump-anti-weaponization-fund&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/20\/jan-6-police-sue-trump-anti-weaponization-fund\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Hodges, a Metro officer, and Harry Dunn, a retired US Capitol police officer, listen during a hearing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}