Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges argue the fund is unconstitutional and could pay Jan. 6 rioters who attacked them
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Retired U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and active Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges took legal action Wednesday, bringing a complaint in Washington's federal district court that targets the Trump administration's $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund and brands it "the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century."
On Jan. 6, 2021, both officers were on duty at the Capitol when Trump supporters overwhelmed the building's defenses, seeking to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory. The lawsuit names President Donald Trump, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as defendants, according to ABC News.
Among the constitutional claims raised, the officers assert that the fund runs afoul of the 14th Amendment, which forbids the use of federal money to satisfy debts arising from insurrection or rebellion, according to Politico. The lawsuit also alleges the Justice Department has no legal authority to create such a fund. The filing declares that the fund "is illegal" and contends: "No statute authorizes its creation, the settlement on which it is premised is a corrupt sham, and its design violates the Constitution and federal law."
The officers contend the fund's existence poses a direct threat to their safety. According to the filing, both men have been subjected to sustained harassment and death threats by people who took part in the riot, and the officers maintain that channeling taxpayer money to those same individuals would intensify that threat. "The Fund's mere existence sends a clear and chilling message: Those who enact violence in President Trump's name will not just avoid punishment, they will be rewarded with riches," the complaint states.
Brendan Ballou, who established the Public Integrity Project after resigning as a Justice Department Jan. 6 prosecutor following Trump's mass pardons of Capitol riot defendants, is leading the legal effort on behalf of both officers. "This Fund creates enormous physical dangers for Officers Dunn and Hodges, who risked their lives on January 6, 2021," Ballou wrote in the complaint.
A standing challenge is the likeliest defense the Justice Department will raise against the suit, according to Politico. At a Tuesday media availability, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward $WWD pushed back on critics, insisting the debate was getting ahead of the facts. "There's not been a single claim filed, there's not been a single payment made," he said.
Blanche unveiled the fund on Monday as a byproduct of resolving Trump's $10 billion suit against the IRS stemming from the unauthorized disclosure of his tax records; the acting attorney general described its purpose as establishing "a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare." The fund will be administered by a five-member commission appointed by the attorney general and is set to wind down by December 15, 2028. A separate addendum to the settlement, disclosed Tuesday, bars the federal government from pursuing tax enforcement actions against Trump, his family members, and his business entities for returns filed before the agreement took effect.
Questions about who qualifies to receive money and whether payouts are capped remain unanswered; when pressed at a Senate hearing, Blanche deferred to the fund's forthcoming five-member board. Neither the acting attorney general nor the White House has indicated any intention to bar Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by Trump after being convicted of attacking police from collecting payments, according to CBS News.
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