A federal judge on Friday indefinitely blocked the Trump administration’s $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, even as another federal judge earlier this week declined to intervene after the Justice Department said the fund was no longer moving forward.
Background
The court disputes have heightened pressure on the administration to formally dismantle the fund. While Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress the fund would not move forward, the settlement agreement and departmental directives that created the fund have not been formally rescinded.
Critics argue this leaves open the possibility that the fund could still proceed in the future. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, a Clinton-appointed judge, extended a court order Friday preventing implementation of the fund, concluding that public assurances from administration officials were insufficient to eliminate concerns that it could later be revived.
Brinkema noted how Trump, ‘says he’s disappointed that something is not going forward,’ suggesting this was evidence that the fund may ‘rear its head’ at some point in the future. Over the weekend Trump shared on ‘Meet the Press’ that he’d like to continue with the fund.
Warning from the Judge
Brinkema gave the Justice Department a week to put in writing that the Anti-Weaponization Fund is being terminated and will not be reinstated. The ruling comes days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected a separate request from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) seeking emergency intervention, saying he was willing to rely on Justice Department representations that the fund had effectively been abandoned.
But Leon, a George W. Bush-appointed judge, simultaneously warned administration officials not to treat his decision as permission to revive the program. ‘I give the Justice Department this warning: Don’t play possum with me,’ Leon said from the bench.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
