{"id":1227,"date":"2026-05-20T20:03:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2026-05-20T20:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:03:21","slug":"officers-who-defended-capitol-from-rioters-sue-to-block-payouts-from-1-8b-anti-weaponization-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1227","title":{"rendered":"Officers who defended Capitol from rioters sue to block payouts from $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong>  |  Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from an attack by a mob of President Donald Trump\u2019s supporters sued on Wednesday to block anyone \u2014 including Jan. 6, 2021, rioters \u2014 from receiving payouts from a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated prosecutions.<\/p>\n<p>The officers\u2019 attorneys filed the federal lawsuit a day after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the fund\u2019s creation during a congressional hearing. Blanche, a personal attorney for Trump before joining the Justice Department, wouldn\u2019t rule out the possibility that rioters who assaulted police on Jan. 6 would be eligible for fund payouts.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit claims the government\u2019s \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d is an illegal slush fund that Trump will use to \u201cfinance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name.\u201d It describes the fund\u2019s creation as \u201cthe most brazen act of presidential corruption this century\u201d and calls for dissolving it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo statute authorizes its creation, the settlement on which it is premised is a corrupt sham, and its design violates the Constitution and federal law,\u201d the suit says.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The fund stems from a settlement of Trump\u2019s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. It\u2019s designed to compensate those who believe they were mistreated by prior administrations\u2019 Justice Department. Decisions on payouts will be made by a five-member commission appointed by the attorney general.<\/p>\n<p>More than 100 police officers were injured during the Capitol riot. Nearly 1,600 people were charged with Jan. 6-related crimes, but Trump used his pardon powers to erase all of those cases in a sweeping act of clemency last year.<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs suing Trump over the fund are Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges and former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who is running in Maryland for a seat in Congress. Hodges and Dunn both testified before Congress about their harrowing experiences on Jan. 6. Videos captured a rioter ripping a mask off Hodges as he was pinned against a door during a fight for control of a tunnel entrance.<\/p>\n<p>The officers claim the fund \u201cencourages those who enacted violence in the President\u2019s name to continue to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDunn and Hodges already face credible threats of death and violence on regular basis; the Fund substantially increases the danger,\u201d the suit alleges.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, members of Congress peppered Blanche with questions about the fund. He described it as \u201cunusual\u201d but not unprecedented. Blanche failed to acknowledge that Trump\u2019s Justice Department has investigated and prosecuted some of the Republican president\u2019s political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.<\/p>\n<p>Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also are named as defendants in the officers\u2019 lawsuit. Spokespeople for the Justice and Treasury departments didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment on the suit.<\/p>\n<p>One of the attorneys for the officers is Brendan Ballou, a former Justice Department prosecutor who handled Jan. 6 cases.<\/p>\n<p>This story has been corrected to reflect that nearly 1,600 people, not over 1,600, were charged with Jan. 6-related crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1221\">Putin and Xi hail their friendship and growing energy trade at their meeting in Beijing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1223\">Fears surge on the ground in Congo over the spread of rare type of Ebola<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1225\">Residents of Lithuania\u2019s capital told to shelter as drone alarm underlines NATO\u2019s eastern jitters<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON | Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from an attack by a mob of President Donald Trump\u2019s supporters sued on Wednesday to block anyone \u2014 including Jan. 6, 2021, rioters \u2014 from receiving payouts from a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1758,1759,45,1760,1761,1555,1762],"class_list":["post-1227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation","tag-anti-weaponization-fund","tag-daniel-hodges","tag-donald-trump","tag-harry-dunn","tag-jan-6-rioters","tag-todd-blanche","tag-u-s-capitol"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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