Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has defended a compensation fund for Trump allies in his first congressional testimony since taking the reins at the Justice Department.
The acting Attorney General’s testimony before a Senate appropriations subcommittee comes a day after the Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion fund to pay allies of the US President who believe they were targeted politically.
His agency faces intense scrutiny over its plans to create a $1.776 billion fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies who claim they were unfairly targeted by the previous administration.
In response to questions from Senator Susan Collins, Blanche said that though the fund was “unusual,” it’s not unprecedented. He said that the fund was similar in structure to one created during the Obama administration to compensate Native American farmers who alleged they were victims of racial discrimination.
Blanche said the fund will not be limited to Republicans or to people who were investigated or prosecuted by the Biden administration. He also said that he expected the payouts, which will be decided by a five-member commission, to be a matter of public record.
The Acting Attorney General stated that the Justice Department is committed to “full transparency” in providing public information about beneficiaries of the new fund meant to compensate allies of President Trump who say they were mistreated by the criminal justice system. Blanche said in response to a question at the Senate budget hearing that there are privacy laws that mandate some information be kept quiet, but that otherwise, the department intended to be transparent.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, castigated acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over the new $1.8 billion fund. Van Hollen called the Anti-Weaponization Fund announced Monday a “pure theft of public funds.” He told Blanche that he was “still acting as the President’s personal lawyer” and not the acting Attorney General that he is.
Van Hollen pressed Blanche on the creation of the fund during a budget hearing and asked him directly whether Jan. 6 rioters involved in crimes of violence could apply for payment from the fund. “As was made plain yesterday, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were a victim of weaponization,” Blanche said. The decisions on payouts will be made a five-member commission appointed by Blanche.
Under questioning from Senator Jeff Merkley, Blanche said that he “will definitely encourage the commission” responsible for deciding on the payouts to “take everything into account.” He also said that he’ll commit to “making sure that the commissioners are effectively doing their jobs and that includes setting your guidelines.”
However, he declined to explicitly rule out the idea that people implicated in the violence of Jan 6. could apply for payments from the fund, which was set up to pay people who believe they’ve been mistreated by the criminal justice system.
Republicans Steer Clear Of Settlement Fund
Republicans pressed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about violent crime, drug enforcement and other conventional Justice Department topics. However, for the most part, they’re steering clear of the Justice Department’s creation of a new $1.776 fund created to compensate allies of President Trump who say they’ve been mistreated by the criminal justice system and Democrats.
That’s in contrast to their Democratic counterparts, who routinely pressed Blanche on the fund. The primary exception on the Republican side was Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who asked Blanche about the fund.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that he’s “not a fan” of the settlement fund. Thune told reporters that he isn’t sure how the administration intends to use it, but said “I don’t see a purpose for that.”
Commenting on whether there should be guardrails to ensure January 6, 2021, rioters aren’t compensated from the proposed fund, Thune remarked, “My assumption is that, based on some of the blowback that’s come since this was announced, that there would be a significant amount of attention paid to it,” he said, noting he expects that scrutiny to happen during the annual appropriations process that is just getting started. Lawmakers have so far been hesitant to publicly back the fund.
Thune’s comments come after Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, called it a “slush fund” on Monday. It is unclear, though, if Republicans will try to block the funding.
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