The establishment of a $1.8 billion government fund to pay people who claimed to have been the subject of political investigations by former presidential administrations has been temporarily halted by a federal judge, reported BBC
The judge prohibited the Justice Department from establishing or running the fund, including processing or distributing claims, until a preliminary hearing on June 12 in a two-page ruling issued on Friday.
The Justice Department declared last week that the “anti-weaponisation fund” would be established.
In order to resolve President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding the disclosure of his tax returns, an agreement was reached.
Many Trump supporters who were prosecuted for the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, have stated they intend to pursue compensation, even though the order establishing the fund did not specify how individuals could be eligible for payments.
Democrats and several Republicans were outraged by the fund’s establishment because they believed it lacked clear congressional permission and would function with minimal control.
The Senate’s Republican leader, John Thune, stated that he wasn’t a “big fan” of the fund and that he wasn’t sure how claims would be handled.
Two men filed the Virginia complaint, claiming the fund was biased. They claimed that the Trump administration had singled them out for political retaliation, but they thought the government would not let them submit claims for damages.
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Federal courts are now considering a number of legal challenges to the fund. The judge overseeing Trump’s tax case received a letter on Wednesday from a group of 35 former federal judges requesting that she take a closer look at the details of the agreement.
The agreement also prohibits the IRS from examining previous tax returns filed by Trump, his family, and his companies.
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