Two police officers in Washington, DC, have sued the administration of President Donald Trump over its decision to establish a $1.776bn fund to compensate victims of alleged government \u201cweaponisation\u201d.<\/p>\n
In their lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges call the fund \u201cthe most brazen act of presidential corruption this century\u201d.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
They are aiming to have the fund dissolved in order to prevent taxpayer money from being disbursed to participants in the attack against the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.<\/p>\n
On that day, thousands of Trump supporters descended on Congress in an apparent effort to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf allowed to begin making payments, the Fund will directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters who threatened Plaintiffs\u2019 lives that day, and continue to do so,\u201d the lawsuit argues.<\/p>\n
Both Dunn and Hodges have said they were injured during the attack. Dunn, a member of the US Capitol Police, has since retired.<\/p>\n
Hodges, who remains with the Metropolitan Police Department, recalled in the lawsuit being \u201cnearly crushed by rioters\u201d against a Capitol door. Another officer heard protesters threaten to \u201ckill him with his own gun\u201d. The officers feared they would not escape the attack alive.<\/p>\n
Their lawsuit argues that Trump has signalled he would like to compensate the January 6 rioters, saying they were \u201ctreated unfairly\u201d by the justice system.<\/p>\n
The newly created fund, it argues, would allow him to do so with little oversight.<\/p>\n
Already, on the first day of his second term, Trump issued a blanket pardon to nearly all the participants in the attack, and he commuted the sentences of 14 others.<\/p>\n
According to their complaint, both Dunn and Hodges continue to be the subject of violent threats and harassment as a result of their defence of the Capitol. Compensating their attackers, the two men claim, will encourage further violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Fund\u2019s mere existence sends a clear and chilling message: those who enact violence in President Trump\u2019s name will not just avoid punishment, they will be rewarded with riches,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat message, by itself, substantially increases the already sizeable risk of vigilante violence Dunn and Hodges face on a near-daily basis. And it encourages those who are harassing Dunn and Hodges, and sending them death threats, to up the ante.\u201d<\/p>\n
A deal to end a controversial suit<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has so far refused to rule out paying January 6 participants from the \u201canti-weaponisation\u201d fund.<\/p>\n
That pool of money was set up this week as part of a settlement between Trump and the Justice Department, which falls under his leadership.<\/p>\n
In January, Trump had announced that he was suing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which also falls under his executive control, over the leak of his tax returns to media organisations like The New York Times and ProPublica.<\/p>\n
Alleging harm to himself, his adult sons and his business interests, Trump sought $10bn in damages. Critics, however, quickly pointed out that the lawsuit constitutes a conflict of interest for the sitting president, who holds significant sway over both the IRS and the Justice Department.<\/p>\n
Even the judge assigned to the case, Kathleen Williams, appeared sceptical that the two sides were \u201csufficiently adverse\u201d, noting that the defendants were \u201csubject to his direction\u201d.<\/p>\n
There were also serious questions about whether Trump had filed his lawsuit within the statute of limitations, and whether the leak \u2014 which was committed by a government contractor, Charles Littlejohn \u2014 was truly the responsibility of the IRS.<\/p>\n
But Trump\u2019s lawsuit never made it to trial. The case was closed after the settlement was announced on Monday.<\/p>\n
As part of the settlement, the Trump administration directed the Justice Department to draw $1.776bn from the Judgement Fund, which is used to settle lawsuits against the government.<\/p>\n
That sum was then put aside as an \u201canti-weaponisation\u201d fund, a pot of money seemingly predicated on Trump\u2019s assertion that he and his supporters are entitled to compensation for unfair treatment under previous administrations.<\/p>\n
The settlement (PDF)<\/a> stipulates that the US government has \u201cno liability whatsoever for the protection or safeguarding of those funds\u201d from fraud.<\/p>\n