Two officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 filed suit Wednesday to dismantle a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded compensation program they say will reward the rioters who attacked them.
Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges argue in a 29-page lawsuit that President Trump's fund represents "the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century." They contend the program functions as a "corrupt sham" designed to finance those who committed violence in Trump's name.
The officers claim the fund endangers them in two concrete ways. First, they say its mere existence encourages continued violence by those who attacked the Capitol. Both men face regular death threats, and the fund substantially amplifies that danger, according to the complaint. Second, if the program begins distributing payments, it will directly finance the operations of the rioters and paramilitary groups whose violence threatened their lives that day and continues to do so.
Trump established the fund to settle a lawsuit he filed against the IRS after a former contractor leaked his tax returns. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump's personal attorney, will oversee a five-member commission to review claims of alleged weaponized prosecutions and determine eligibility for compensation.
The legal landscape remains murky. Legal experts say it is unclear who actually has standing to challenge the fund in court, though critics have labeled it "illegal." IRS attorneys reportedly believed they had a strong case to defend against Trump's lawsuit, but the agency settled anyway, according to the New York Times.
When asked Monday about whether Jan. 6 defendants could receive reimbursement, Trump said the fund is "reimbursing people that were horribly treated." He described it as an "anti-weaponization" measure targeting those he claimed were "wrongly" imprisoned, had to pay legal fees they couldn't afford, or went bankrupt. Trump also appeared to endorse the false claim that he won the 2020 election, saying some recipients "turned out to be right."
Vice President Vance expanded the scope of potential beneficiaries on Tuesday, telling reporters the fund could extend beyond Jan. 6 participants. "Republicans can apply for it, Democrats can apply for it," he said, and suggested it might even compensate Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden.
The Justice Department has not responded to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Author James Rodriguez: "The irony is sharp: Trump argues he's protecting the wrongly persecuted while simultaneously using federal money to potentially compensate those who attacked federal officers. This lawsuit might be the only real test of whether the courts will let that stand."
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