Two police officers who defended the US Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot filed a lawsuit Wednesday to thwart a $1.776 billion compensation fund set aside for victims of federal government weaponization, arguing it encourages violence by “rioters, paramilitaries and their supporters.”
In their suit, which names President Trump as well as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Todd Bessent, former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges described the pool as a “corrupt sham” and a “taxpayer-funded slush fund.”
The money was set aside as part of a settlement agreement between the IRS and Trump, who dropped his $10 billion suit over the leaking of his tax returns Monday in exchange for an apology and the creation of the “anti-weaponization” fund by the Justice Department.
“In the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name,” begins the complaint filed Tuesday in DC federal court.
Dunn and Hodges argue the fund endangers them by “directly financing” those responsible for threatening their lives during the Capitol riot and those who “continue to do so.”
The suit is seeking the dissolution of the fund “to protect [the] plaintiffs from further violence,” claiming the money will be haphazardly doled out to the nearly 1,600 people charged with crimes related Jan. 6, the vast majority of whom received pardons from Trump on his first day back in office last year.
“The Anti-Weaponization Fund will both compensate and empower the very people making those threats. Militias like the Proud Boys will use money from the Fund to arm and equip themselves,” the suit warns.
Blanche told lawmakers Tuesday that although anyone is technically eligible to apply for a share of the fund, it doesn’t mean an automatic blank check for those who took part in illegal activity.
“Does it mean they’re going to get money? No,” he said. “It just means they are allowed to apply.”
The money will be distributed by a panel of five commissioners chosen by the AG, none of whom have yet been named.
Around 140 police officers were injured in the fracas, which held up the congressional counting of electoral votes affirming Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
