Blanche Reaffirms 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' Is Dead

Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday that the Justice Department's "Anti-Weaponization Fund" remains dead, even as he suggested other methods could be found to compensate people who claim they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration.

Speaking at his first news conference since his narrow Senate confirmation, Blanche reiterated a position he has stated repeatedly under oath, in writing and before Congress.

"I keep on saying this over and over again, but I'm happy to say it one more time," Blanche said in response to a question from ABC News. "I have testified under oath that it's dead. I have testified in front of the House where I wasn't under oath where I said it was dead. I have answered questions after my hearing where I said that it was dead, I have rescinded the order that set up the weaponization fund, which means that it does not exist."

"I'm not sure how I can further say that the anti-weaponization fund doesn't exist, or we use the word 'dead,'" he added. "But if anybody has any ideas, we also have said under oath that if Congress would like to make it a law, that we would support that, as would the White House."

Blanche's remarks came days after President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the fund's future would be Blanche's decision to make. Prior to his confirmation, Blanche had affirmed in a written order that the fund was dead, under pressure from two Republican senators whose support for his nomination hinged on that declaration.

Still, Blanche indicated the department would consider other ways to pay out so-called "victims" of Justice Department "weaponization" under the Biden administration, a goal President Trump has repeatedly voiced.

"The president feels very strongly, as do I, that there were people who were victims of a Department of Justice that was absolutely weaponized, and he feels very strongly that he would want to make them whole, as do I, but it will not be through the Anti-Weaponization Fund," Blanche said.

The $1.776 billion fund was announced in May in exchange for Trump agreeing to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and two civil claims totaling $230 million related to the Russia collusion investigation and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. The proposal drew accusations of self-dealing and bipartisan criticism over the possibility of using taxpayer money to compensate people, including rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.