{"id":3906,"date":"2026-05-28T16:40:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/28\/bipartisan-group-of-ex-federal-judges-challenges-trumps-1-8bn-anti-weaponization-fund\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T16:40:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:40:18","slug":"bipartisan-group-of-ex-federal-judges-challenges-trumps-1-8bn-anti-weaponization-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=3906","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan group of ex-federal judges challenges Trump\u2019s $1.8bn \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund"},"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=\"4765a61b-8d3c-442c-9d60-3eb62d6d7c6d\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"a man speaks\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/5b19ca08147b01e60a0148141145608de0891bd5\/1170_0_6410_5127\/master\/6410.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"371.9274570982839\" 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\">Donald Trump speaks to the press before walking to board Marine One as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House on 12 May.<\/span> Photograph: Kent Nishimura\/AFP\/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=\"4765a61b-8d3c-442c-9d60-3eb62d6d7c6d\" 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\">Donald Trump speaks to the press before walking to board Marine One as he departs from the South Lawn of the White House on 12 May.<\/span> Photograph: Kent Nishimura\/AFP\/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\">Bipartisan group of ex-federal judges challenges Trump\u2019s $1.8bn \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund<\/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>Lawsuit says settlement fund was \u2018fraud on the court\u2019 that would funnel taxpayer dollars to Trump allies<\/p>\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\">Dozens of former federal judges have joined the push to thwart Donald Trump\u2019s creation of a $1.776bn \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/18\/trump-dismiss-10-billion-dollar-irs-lawsuit\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">anti-weaponization fund<\/a>\u201d that would funnel taxpayer dollars to the president\u2019s political allies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The bipartisan group of 35 judges filed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/72207870\/63\/trump-v-internal-revenue-service\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">a lawsuit<\/a> in the southern district of Florida on Wednesday seeking to reopen Trump\u2019s legal case against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leaking of his tax information by a whistleblower who was later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/archives\/opa\/pr\/former-irs-contractor-sentenced-disclosing-tax-return-information-news-organizations\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sentenced<\/a> to five years in prison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Trump, who had been seeking $10bn in damages, settled that case earlier this month in exchange for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/28132616-sdfl-settlement-signed\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">financial agreement<\/a> with the IRS allowing him to set up what critics have called a \u201cslush fund\u201d for his allies. This could include those convicted of violence during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/us-capitol-breach\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">6 January 2021<\/a> Capitol riot he incited when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/jan\/06\/congress-certify-election-biden-republicans-object\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">trying in vain<\/a> to overturn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/ng-interactive\/2020\/nov\/24\/us-election-results-2020-joe-biden-defeats-donald-trump-to-win-presidency\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">his defeat<\/a> by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Trump pardoned those convicted after returning to the White House last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The former judges said the settlement fund was \u201ca product of collusion and is itself a fraud on the Court\u201d, and urged the Miami-based federal judge Kathleen Williams, appointed by Barack Obama, to reconsider her 18 May decision to approve it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Reopening the case would, the lawsuit said: \u201cAllow the Court to commence an inquiry into whether the Court was deceived, including with respect to the existence of an underlying case or controversy and any purported arms-length negotiations undertaken to resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Democrats, and other critics, believe Williams was undercut by the deal days before she was set to rule on whether Trump\u2019s IRS lawsuit had merit. The judges argue that she may have been hoodwinked by the settlement, which was not yet a matter of public record, and had the authority to reopen the case because it was a product of fraud.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe parties here dismissed this case before the Court could complete its inquiry into whether there was an actual case or controversy, and then cited their \u2018settlement\u2019 of this case as the legal justification for looting the federal treasury of $1.776bn,\u201d the filing said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The jurists behind the lawsuit include former appellate judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/mar\/19\/trump-court-order-immigration-constitutional-crisis\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">J Michael Luttig<\/a>, a conservative longtime Trump critic, and former district court judges <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/oct\/21\/judges-rebuking-trump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Nancy Gertner<\/a> and Shira Scheindlin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/dozens-of-ex-judges-push-look-into-trump-anti-weaponization-fund-fraud-on-the-court\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">CBS News<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The move follows a week of growing opposition to the settlement, and at least one other lawsuit seeking to block it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Harry Dunn, a retired US Capitol police officer, and Daniel Hodges, a Metropolitan police department officer, who were both on duty and injured by rioters during the 6 January insurrection, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/20\/jan-6-police-sue-trump-anti-weaponization-fund\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sued Trump<\/a> in US district court in Washington DC last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cIn the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J Trump has created a $1.776bn taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name,\u201d their lawsuit said.<\/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. Dunn and Hodges already face credible threats of death and violence on [a] regular basis; the fund substantially increases the danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Opposition has also come from within Trump\u2019s own Republican party. Senior figures in the US Senate have expressed \u201cconcern\u201d that money could be diverted to convicted felons, and the chamber last week <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/05\/21\/g-s1-123455\/republicans-ice-spending-trump\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">held up<\/a> a $72bn Trump-backed immigration enforcement funding bill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/saradorn\/2026\/05\/27\/trumps-supporters-reject-his-anti-weaponization-fund-in-new-poll-nearly-half-of-maga-oppose\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Economist\/YouGov poll<\/a> this week found that 52% of Republicans, and 45% of those who consider themselves supporters of Trump\u2019s hardline Maga (make America great again) agenda, were against the fund.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The justice department, and acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, have defended it. \u201cThe machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American,\u201d Blanche said last week, claiming that applications for a payout would be open to anybody who felt they had been subject to politically motivated prosecution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">On his Truth Social platform, however, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116618545735076530\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">said the payouts<\/a> were intended for those \u201cso badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden administration\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Among the first to express interest was Enrique Tarrio, a former leader of the far-right Proud Boys group, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/jan\/24\/trump-pardon-proud-boys-enrique-tarrio\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">pardoned by Trump<\/a> last year after being sentenced to a 22-year prison term for plotting to overturn Biden\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Tarrio has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/ex-proud-boys-leader-enrique-tarrio-tells-pbs-news-he-believes-hes-owed-tens-of-millions-from-doj-fund\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">told PBS News<\/a> that he believed he was entitled to \u201csomewhere in the mid-tens of millions\u201d of dollars from the fund.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Last year, Tarrio <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/jun\/06\/january-6-enrique-tarrio-lawsuit\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sued the government<\/a> for allegedly violating his civil rights, and the justice department announced last month it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/apr\/14\/january-6-convictions-overturn-doj-proud-boys-oath-keepers\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">seeking to overturn<\/a> the seditious conspiracy convictions of leaders of the Proud Boys and another extremist group, the Oath Keepers, stemming from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/jan\/09\/us-capitol-insurrection-white-supremacist-terror\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Capitol attack<\/a>.<\/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-news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US news<\/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\/florida\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Florida<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-capitol-breach\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US Capitol attack<\/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=Bipartisan%20group%20of%20ex-federal%20judges%20challenges%20Trump%E2%80%99s%20%241.8bn%20%E2%80%98anti-weaponization%E2%80%99%20fund&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/28\/federal-judges-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%2F28%2Ffederal-judges-trump-anti-weaponization-fund&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/28\/federal-judges-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>Donald Trump speaks to the press before walking to board Marine One as he departs from the South<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3906","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\/3906","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=3906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}