Trump administration DEFIES ultimatum from Clinton judge on anti-weaponization fund

The Department of Justice rejected a judge's ultimatum on the "anti-weaponization fund" and called it a breach of the separation of powers doctrine.

President Donald Trump agreed to drop a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service in exchange for the formation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate the victims of weaponization of government in previous administrations.

'Judges do not get to insert themselves into the department's routine settlement authority.'

In response to a lawsuit over the fund, the government argued that the point was moot after Attorney General Todd Blanche testified to Congress that the fund was dead.

"We are not moving forward with the fund. Period," Blanche said clearly.

However, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema cited statements from the president supporting the fund and Blanche's reluctance to provide a written guarantee as evidence that the administration still sought to establish it.

Brinkema then gave the government a week to provide declarations under penalty of perjury from Blanche as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. She warned that if they failed to do so, she would allow a lawsuit against the government to proceed.

On Friday, the DOJ responded that the statements were unnecessary and constituted a "serious" violation of the separation of powers among the branches of government.

"It is telling that even after the federal court gave them a week, the acting attorney general and other senior administration officials continue to refuse to say under oath that the Slush Fund is dead and won't operate in the future," Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman said.

The organization is representing the plaintiffs, a coalition that includes a former federal prosecutor and two nonprofits.

"Nor have they provided any information under oath about their compliance with the court's prior directives," Perryman added.

A spokesperson for the DOJ told the Washington Examiner that the judge was improperly inserting herself into the lawsuit settlement.

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"The DOJ has already twice filed in court that the fund isn't moving ahead, coupled with Blanche's repeated testimony before Congress that the fund isn't moving forward," the spokesperson said.

"In essence, the judge's demand for declarations was an attempt to require her to personally sign-off on any and all future settlements, separate and apart from the Fund, that the department may make," the spokesperson added. "Judges do not get to insert themselves into the department's routine settlement authority."

Democrats and some Republicans have voiced opposition to the fund based on the critique that it would be a slush fund to reward the president's supporters and allies.

Brinkema was nominated to the bench by former President Bill Clinton in 1993.

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