Acting AG Blanche Says the ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund is Dead, ‘Period’

Critics had wanted concrete assurance that President Trump would drop plans for the $1.8 billion fund.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a congressional committee Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund will not be created. Tom Williams/AP

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress on Tuesday the Department of Justice would end its nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund a little more than two weeks after its inception, following legal setbacks and an uproar from lawmakers in both parties.

“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Blanche testified before the House Appropriations Committee.

The Justice Department established the fund on May 18 to resolve a $10 billion lawsuit President Donald Trump and his sons brought against the IRS over the leak of their tax returns.