Yesterday it was announced that President Trump was cancelling his lawsuit against the IRS after they illegally leaked his tax returns to the New York Times in 2019.
In response to that, the DOJ announced it was setting up a near $1.8 billion fund they called the “Anti-Weaponization Fund”, which is to compensate people who have been wrongfully prosecuted by the DOJ.
Last night on CNN, Trump-hating Ana Navarro claimed this fund was ‘reparations’ January 6 ‘insurrectionists’.
But Scott Jennings, with somewhat mixed feelings about the fund, slapped down Navarro and schooled her on why this fund actually exists and how people who have been wrongfully prosecuted should have recourse.
Watch below:
Scott Jennings rarely disappoints, and I like that he’s got mixed feelings about the fund because it is a hell of a lot of money to be doled out by the DOJ without congressional approval. That being said he’s also right about those who, like Trump, been persecuted by the DOJ having some kind of recourse. It is the right thing to do.
Here’s more about the fund from NBC News:
The Justice Department announced Monday that it was establishing a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” after President Donald Trump moved to dismiss a $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns.
Justice Department officials announced that Trump and his co-plaintiffs would drop their IRS lawsuit, as well as other claims of damages, in connection with the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home, and in connection with the Russian collusion scandal “in exchange” for creating the fund, which the Justice Department said set up a “systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”
The fund was established ahead of court deadlines in the IRS case, which would have required the Trump administration to explain whether there was an actual case to be heard, given Trump’s control over the Justice Department’s actions.
The $1,776,000,000 available for the fund was based “upon the projected valuation of future claimants’ claims,” according to the Justice Department.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, said the fund was meant to reimburse “people that were horribly treated,” adding that he wasn’t involved in the fund’s creation.
Asked whether people who committed violence against Capitol Police officers should be eligible for compensation, Trump said “it’ll all be dependent on a committee being set up of very talented people, very highly respected people.”
The attorney general would appoint five members of the commission to oversee the fund, including one member to be chosen in consultation with congressional leadership, the Justice Department said, adding that Trump could remove any member.