Judge Orders DOJ to Name Architects of Defunct $1.8 Billion Fund, Expands Discovery Window
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 4
Judge Orders DOJ to Name Architects of Defunct $1.8 Billion Fund, Expands Discovery Window
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 4
Summary
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ivan Davis ordered the Justice Department to identify who conceived the now-scrapped Anti-Weaponization Fund, rejecting repeated DOJ efforts to keep those names from plaintiffs.
The ruling came in a Virginia lawsuit challenging the $1.8 billion fund as an unconstitutional payout to Trump supporters; Davis also required DOJ to produce relevant evidence from January 2025 through Friday.
DOJ is appealing both discovery rulings to U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema and separately seeks dismissal, arguing the plaintiffs lack standing and the fund is definitively dead.
Five officials have already been identified as involved — Todd Blanche, Stanley Woodward, Scott Bessent, Frank Bisignano and Trent McCotter — but any newly disclosed names will stay sealed unless the case reaches trial.
Blanche created the fund in May and scrapped it last month after bipartisan backlash in Congress, yet lawsuits over the plan are still moving forward.