US federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s ‘anti-weaponisation fund’

The fund stemmed after a recent IRS settlement with US President Donald Trump over his leaked tax records.A United States federal judge temporarily blocked the administration of President Donald Trump’s nearly $1.8bn “anti-weaponisation fund” to compensate victims of what Trump has called government “weaponisation”.On Friday, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia blocked the Trump administration from “taking any further action” to set up or operate the fund while the judge hears additional legal arguments.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Kenyan court suspends US Ebola quarantine facility planlist 2 of 4US-Iran 60-day proposal: What we knowlist 3 of 4Firefighters work to free riders stuck atop a rollercoaster in Texaslist 4 of 4Harvard Medical School graduate dedicates speech to Lebanon and Palestineend of listThe judge, who was nominated to the bench by President Bill Clinton, scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments about whether to extend the order blocking payouts.The Department of Justice announced the fund last week as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of Donald Trump, in his personal capacity, against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stemming from allegations that Charles Edward Littlejohn, a former contractor, leaked Trump’s tax records to journalists.The fund was set up to be overseen by a five-member commission which would release money for those who can show that they were victims of “lawfare” and “weaponisation”, terms Trump and his allies have used to describe investigations and criminal cases against them.Friday’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by a group led by a prosecutor of the January 6 riots, Andrew Floyd. The suit claimed that the fund would be partisan to fund Trump supporters and not those who are the president’s political opponents.The Justice Department has yet to form the commission that will decide on payout criteria, so there has been no money paid out yet or claims accepted.