Judge temporarily blocks payments from Trump's nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate victims of Biden's 'lawfare'

A federal court in Alexandria, Va., temporarily blocked any payments from the fund created by Donald Trump to compensate victims of the Biden administration's "lawfare." Judge Leonie Brinkema, nominated by Bill Clinton, also barred the executive from moving forward with proceedings to create the fund while the case is being resolved in court.

The judge set a hearing for June 12 to decide whether her order is extended or allows payments on the administration's controversial measure to begin. The government ordered the creation of this repository as a measure to resolve the lawsuit filed by Trump against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leak of his income tax returns.

Fierce debate

The creation of this fund has generated a fierce debate, and not only among Democrats, but there are many Republicans who have been concerned about who could end up getting money from it. One of the main points of contention is whether people who participated in Jan. 6 would be eligible for compensation.

So far, the Department of Justice has not constituted the five-member committee that will be in charge of setting the payment criteria. In other words, not a single claim has yet been accepted and not a single dollar has been disbursed.

Plaintiffs seeking a halt to the fund

The lawsuit was filed by the group Democracy Forward, seeking a court order to stop the implementation of the fund and prevent the Trump administration from making any payments through it. The whistleblowers further allege that the deposit lacks both a legal basis and accountability.

The White House deferred to the Department of Justice to assess the ruling, and the latter, for the time being, has not responded to media inquiries.