Trump officials 'still fighting' to keep 'slush fund' alive: legal expert

U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 15, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Back in June — before then-Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and took over the position permanently — the Donald Trump loyalist claimed that the Trump administration's "anti-weaponization fund" was "not moving forward." But according to MS NOW legal reporter Fallon Gallagher, Trump officials haven't "forgotten" about the $1.8 billion fund and are "still fighting to keep it alive."

MAGA Republicans described the "anti-weaponization fund" as a way to compensate people it claims were wrongly prosecuted under former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland during the Biden administration. But critics attacked it as a "slush fund," arguing that taxpayers would be giving money to Trump supporters who violently attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

Gallagher, reporting for MS NOW, warns that while the $1.8 billion fund "has largely faded from headlines," the Trump administration "hasn't forgotten" about it.

"The fight is returning to federal court in Virginia on Friday," Gallagher explains. "U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema is set to hear arguments over the government's bid to dismiss the most successful legal challenge to the fund. This is the same judge who blocked the fund indefinitely in June. When Brinkema blocked the fund, she gave the government an opportunity to declare — under penalty of perjury — that it would not move forward with the fund in any way, shape or form in the future. If they did that, she indicated she would likely dismiss the case."

Gallagher continues, "The government did not file that declaration. But on Friday, the Justice Department will ask the same judge to dismiss the case, the exact thing the judge likely would have done had the government filed it in response the first time she requested it. This feels like a case of — to use a movie quote — 'so, you're telling me there's a chance?'"

The lawsuit was brought by Democracy Forward, whose president, Skye Perryman, is certain that Trump and his allies aren't giving up on the fund.

Perryman told MS NOW, "It's very clear that this administration had no interest in halting the fund. They have halted the fund because of the court order that's in place blocking the fund. This administration continues to try to avoid accountability from the courts and from the people, which is why they're trying to move to dismiss a case about something that is clearly unlawful and something that's very unpopular. That is their MO, is to try to dismiss cases in order to avoid accountability."

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