Washington — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche reiterated on Wednesday that the Justice Department has no plans to launch a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund at the heart of a controversial settlement between President Trump and the IRS, even though language in the settlement agreement filed in a federal court has yet to be amended by the parties.
“It is a moot issue, meaning there is no weaponization fund. The weaponization fund is dead,” Blanche told lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he appeared for his confirmation hearing to serve as Attorney General.
Blanche has faced staunch bipartisan criticism over the settlement, which called for the creation of the new fund at the Justice Department to pay victims of so-called government “weaponization” and granted immunity to Mr. Trump, his two oldest sons, his company and related companies from future tax claims. Earlier this week, a federal judge in Miami rebuked the Justice Department and sanctioned an attorney for Mr. Trump in the IRS case, finding the president pursued the lawsuit “for an improper purpose.”
The ruling raised questions about whether Blanche and Stanley Woodward, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, violated ethical rules. It barred them from citing the provisions of the deal as evidence of a settlement in any formal court or government proceeding.
Both Democratic and Republican senators on Wednesday repeatedly raised concerns about the way the Justice Department has handled the case, noting that the settlement expressly states that any changes to it must be agreed upon by all parties involved. To date, no one from either the government or Mr. Trump’s personal legal team have formally filed amendments to the settlement in federal court.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, reading from the settlement on Wednesday, noted that it says the terms of the deal “may be modified only upon the written agreement of the parties.”
“Has there been a written agreement of the parties to modify the settlement fund?” he asked.
“No, the settlement fund is just not moving forward,” Blanche responded. “There’s no modification. It never started. No money went from the Treasury to any other account.”
When pressed, however, as to whether the settlement agreement may be enforceable by the parties, Blanche conceded that the president could challenge it down the road.
“Yes, it’s an enforceable document, so I suppose if President Trump’s counsel sought to enforce it, that they potentially could … try to enforce the contract. They can’t force the Department of Justice to move forward with the weaponization fund. They could potentially say that we breached by not moving forward,” Blanche said. “They haven’t done that, and I’m not aware that they’re planning on doing that.”
After the hearing, Cornyn told reporters that he is still undecided about whether to support Blanche’s nomination. Blanche needs the support of all 11 Republicans on the panel to advance his nomination to the Senate floor.
“I’m not going to make a decision until I have to,” Cornyn said. “I’m not there yet.”
The Texas Republican cited the tax settlement and the anti-weaponization fund. On the latter, he said, “I think people were operating under the impression that somehow the weaponization fund was gone, when I think pretty plainly, based on his own testimony, it still could be revived.”