Mastodawn

It’s “temporary” but I’ll take it!

🚨🚨🚨

A federal judge in Virginia has temporarily blocked #Trump #SlushFund

The order from US District Judge Leonie Brinkema says the admin cannot take any action “pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund, which includes the transferring of money to the Fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the Fund; & the disbursing of any funds from the Fund.”

#law #judiciary #fraud #DOJ #theft #kleptocracy
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/29/politics/federal-judge-halts-work-on-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund

Federal judge halts work on Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization fund’

A federal judge in Virginia has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving ahead with plans to create a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who it says were wrongly targeted by the government in the past.

CNN

Judge Leonie Brinkema set a hearing for June 12 to hear arguments over whether she should issue a more lasting pause on the government’s efforts to set up the fund, which is being challenged by a diverse coalition of individuals & entities who say they have faced partisan attacks by the #Trump admin but who say they expect to be excluded from accessing the fund.

Order:
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28173352/tro-on-weaponization-fund.pdf

#law #judiciary #criminal #fraud #DOJ #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #Jan6 #SlushFund

No money has yet been handed out from the #SlushFund. Acting AG [aka #Trump henchman] #ToddBlanche has not yet named the 5 “commissioners” who would be assigned to evaluate claims for compensation. The #DOJ has said the $1.776 billion in #TaxpayersMoney it intends to use for the payments would be drawn from a separate legal compensation fund managed by the federal government before July 17 [um, no. Can we halt that please as well?] 
#law #judiciary #fraud #JudicialProcess #theft #kleptocracy

Brinkema’s order came in connection with a lawsuit filed by Andrew Floyd, a fmr DC federal prosecutor who was fired last year after working on cases stemming from the #Jan6, 2021, #insurrection. Other plaintiffs in the case include a man who was arrested in California at a protest of an immigration raid; the city of New Haven, Connecticut; the National Abortion Federation; & the liberal advocacy group Common Cause.

#Trump #law #fraud #DOJ #SlushFund

Plaintiffs suit:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/22/politics/trumps-anti-weaponization-fund-hit-with-another-legal-challenge

Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ hit with another legal challenge

The Trump administration’s newly created nearly $1.8 billion fund for allies of President Donald Trump who say they were wrongly targeted by the government was hit with a second lawsuit on Friday, adding to the growing legal and political backlash facing the White House.

CNN

Nonilex 16h ago

But wait, there’s more!

A federal judge in Miami reopened #Trump’s $10B case against the #IRS in a striking turnabout, saying she wanted to investigate “grievous allegations” that the hasty deal to resolve it was “premised on #deception.”

The ruling by Judge Kathleen M. Williams to revive the case shortly after closing it was a significant blow both to #Trump & to the #DOJ.

#law #judiciary #criminal #fraud #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #SlushFund
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/us/politics/trump-irs-lawsuit-ruling.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Judge Reopens Trump’s Lawsuit Demanding $10 Billion From IRS

The ruling was a blow to both President Trump, who had voluntarily dismissed the suit last week, and to the Justice Department, which used the suit to establish a fund likely intended for Trump allies.

The New York Times

Nonilex 16h ago

After #Trump “withdrew” the suit, senior #DOJ officials released a pair of extraordinary agreements that settled the case by establishing a $1.8 billion #SlushFund to compensate people who claimed they were victims of government “weaponization” by Democrats.

The deal also conferred extremely lucrative tax benefits on Trump, his family & his businesses.

#law #judiciary #criminal #fraud #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #Jan6 #militia #MAGASlushFund

Nonilex 16h ago

Judge Williams’s decision came in response to court papers filed on Wednesday by a bipartisan group of 35 former federal #judges who urged her to bring the case back to life & dig into the details of the agreement to settle it.

The former judges said that Trump’s “#settlement” agreement raised serious questions about his “candor toward the court & manipulation of the judicial system.”

#Trump #law #judiciary #criminal #fraud #DOJ #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #SlushFund

Nonilex 16h ago

Before she closed the case, Judge Williams had in fact questioned whether the lawsuit presented an actual conflict that she could adjudicate, given that #Trump was on both sides of the suit, bringing claims against a federal agency that he controlled. When she closed it, she noted there was no “settlement of record,” but shortly after, the #DOJ released its “agreement” foreclosing the action.

#law #judiciary #criminal #fraud #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #SlushFund

Nonilex 15h ago

In her brief but stern order Friday, Judge Williams said that she wanted to investigate the circumstances surrounding #Trump’s efforts to settle the lawsuit in a way that benefited him & his allies. If she succeeds in moving forward with her inquiry, it could ultimately result in questions being asked of #DOJ leaders who signed the agreements to settle the suit—chief among them, #ToddBlanche, acting AG, & Stanley Woodward Jr, the No.3 ofcl in DOJ.

order:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172/gov.uscourts.flsd.706172.65.0_1.pdf

#law #SlushFund

Nonilex 15h ago

In her order, Judge Williams asserted that she was “empowered to investigate serious #misconduct” in any case before her, & ordered Trump’s lawyers to tell her by June 12 whether the lawsuit should be formally reopened because “the #court was the victim of a #fraud.”

She also wanted Trump’s lawyers to respond to the question of whether he had #colluded with his own government to settle the case “to avoid judicial scrutiny.”

#Trump #law #judiciary #DOJ #JudicialProcess #kleptocracy #SlushFund

Nonilex 15h ago

Judge Williams pointed to reporting by NYT that described how the #IRS had prepared a 25-pg memorandum outlining defenses against the suit that the #DOJ did not take up in court.

#Trump #law #judiciary #criminal #fraud #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #Jan6 #militia #MAGASlushFund #SlushFund
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/admin/irs-trump-lawsuit-deal.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

The IRS Thought it Could Fight Trump’s Lawsuit, but it Struck a Deal Anyway

Officials wrote a memo outlining ways to challenge President Trump’s suit against the Internal Revenue Service. The administration is instead creating a compensation fund.

The New York Times

Nonilex 15h ago

Lawyers for the fmr #judges hailed Judge Williams’s decision.

“The judges & their counsel greatly appreciate the seriousness with which the #court is addressing these grievous allegations,” said Norman Eisen, who represented the fmr judges for the nonprofit group, Democracy Defenders Fund. “We stand ready to work with the court as it investigates this matter.”

#Trump #law #judiciary #criminal #fraud #DOJ #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #MAGASlushFund #SlushFund

Nonilex 15h ago

In their filing, the fmr #judges alleged that #Trump had improperly used his suit against the IRS as a way to obtain “unlawful private benefits” for himself & his family, & to create a #SlushFund that would dole out #TaxpayersMoney “without constitutional or congressional authority.”

They also argued that Trump had tried to shield the deal from #judicial #oversight by rushing a #settlement & “short-circuiting” Judge Williams’s ability to examine its terms.

#law #judiciary #JudicialProcess

Nonilex 15h ago

…Trump’s suit, as IRS officials laid out in their memo & other lawyers have noted, had clear legal flaws. Potential defenses against it include that it was filed after the statute of limitations, & that it incorrectly faulted the IRS for the actions of the contractor, Charles Littlejohn…. But the #DOJ never even made an attempt to contest Trump’s suit. Not a single government lawyer entered an appearance in the case.

#Trump #law #fraud #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #SlushFund

Nonilex 15h ago

That has fueled criticism that the deal the #DOJ struck with #Trump was not a genuine attempt to avoid a loss on the merits, but instead a scheme to provide him & his allies with public benefits.

In a footnote, Judge Williams questioned the provision granting Trump, his family & their businesses immunity from #IRS scrutiny of tax returns they already filed. She wrote the audit protection may run afoul of DOJ rules requiring legal settlements to directly relate to the issues in the suit.

Nonilex 15h ago

She also noted that only #ToddBlanche signed the tax audit provision. The separate, 9-page agreement laying out the $1.8 billion #SlushFund was signed by Woodward & Frank Bisignano, who is serving as the “chief executive officer of the #IRS”, a newly created role [created by the #Trump admin in October 2025] that is not subject to #Senate confirmation.

#Trump #law #judiciary #criminal #fraud #DOJ #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #Jan6 #militia #MAGASlushFund

Krypt3ia 15h ago

@Nonilex Remember, they got Capone through his taxes…

Kenneth Bousquet 13h ago

@Nonilex It gives him more time.