A federal judge in the United States ordered President Donald Trump's administration to disclose the names of the people who developed the structure of the so-called "fund to combat the weaponization of government institutions," worth nearly $1.8 billion. The fund's money could potentially have gone, among other things, toward payments to participants in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot who were pardoned by Trump, NBC News reports, writes UNN.
Details
Judge Ivan Davis partially granted the motion by plaintiffs who are demanding that the federal government disclose information about the fund's creation. Among other things, the administration must name its developers.
Today's order to disclose the information is a significant step in investigating the secret fund
Nearly $1.8 billion was planned to be allocated to the fund
The fund was provided for under an agreement between Trump, his two sons, and his company on one side and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on the other. It was to provide approximately $1.8 billion in taxpayer funds for people who, according to the agreement's wording, "were harmed by the weaponization of government institutions and prosecutions."
The provision could have applied to participants in the Capitol riot who were convicted of crimes and later pardoned by Trump. In May, a federal judge temporarily blocked the fund after a lawsuit was filed.
U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche later said that the fund had been canceled and that no payments would be made from it. At the same time, NBC News notes that legally, the possibility of reinstating it remains because not all parties to the original agreement signed the cancellation document.