Sen. Van Hollen spars with Acting AG over $1.8B “lawfare” fund [M9kpJNTp8EE]
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) pressed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over the Justice Department's plan to establish a $1.8 billion fund for victims of "lawfare" and weaponization of government. "This is an outrageous, unprecedented slush fund that you've set up," Sen. Van Hollen said Tuesday at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing. The Justice Department announced Monday it would establish the fund as part of its out-of-court settlement with President Trump and two of his sons, who had sued the Internal Revenue Service for $10 billion over a leak of their tax documents between 2018 and 2020. The president and his family will not receive proceeds from the fund, which will remunerate those who can prove they were victims of government weaponization. Sen. Van Hollen probed Acting Attorney General Blanche over whether individuals who had assaulted Capitol Police officers as part of the January 6th attacks would be eligible for fund payouts. The Maryland Democrat accused Mr. Blanche of acting as the president's personal attorney in setting up a fund that could allow his allies to profit from taxpayer dollars. a claim the acting Attorney General denied. "I'm the Acting Attorney General," Mr. Blanche said. "The fact that I used to be President Trump's lawyer is just a fact." "Mr. Attorney General, you are acting today like the president's personal attorney," Sen. Van Hollen responded. "And that's the whole problem." #trump #chrisvanhollen #democrats #january6 #cspan