MAGA news outlets could be among the claimants seeking to claw back their massive penalties for spreading 2020 election lies through President Donald Trump's massive slush fund, according to new reporting.
CNN's Marshall Cohen reported that One America News, a little-watched right-wing network, is "seriously considering" filing a claim under the "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to restore millions of dollars paid to settle defamation lawsuits from voting machine companies Dominion and Smartmatic, although representatives from Fox News and Newsmax did not say whether they would use the fund.
"I spoke to the lawyer for One America News America News – OAN," Cohen said. "They said they lost a lot of business after 2020, and they are looking to be made whole."
The picture of who these claimants might be is coming into focus, the reporter said.
"For Trump's strongest supporters,this fund is a huge relief," Cohen said. "Now,you just heard the acting attorney general [Todd Blanche] refused to ruleout potential payments toviolent actors who attackedpolice on Jan. 6. Thatshould tell you a little bitabout how potentially broad thisfund might be, and we spent thelast couple of days speaking to a lot of people in the Jan. 6 community, and beyond thatare hoping to get some money.Jan. 6 rioters, rememberthere were 1,600 peopleprosecuted in connection withJan. 6. They all gotpardons, but they want more.They want restitution."
"Theformer leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, his lawyerstold us that he is intending tofile a claim," Cohen added. "There's also the2020 fake electors that tried tosubvert the electoral collegeprocess. They could get in onthe action here. There are alsoprominent election deniers like Mike Lindell and Tina Peters,who's currently serving the lastfew weeks of her prison sentencein Colorado for an electionsystems breach."
Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado, had been sentenced to nine years in prison for allowing unauthorized individuals to access voter data looking for fraud, but Democratic Gov. Jared Polis cut her sentence in half under pressure from Trump and other Republicans.
"For a lotof the people who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6 andparticipated in the fakeelectors plot in states acrossthe country, this has been along time coming," Cohen said. "They said theywere debanked, they lostfriends, they were ostracized, their businesses took a toll, their retirement funds weredrained, paying for legal fees.Let me read for you somethingfrom the fake elector from Michigan, Meshawn Maddock. Shetold me, quote, 'I faced the realpossibility of prison time, thetrauma to my three kids, and thethought of being separated frommy grandchildren. It took a lotout of us.'"
"There wereothers that we spoke to thatwere even more defiant," Cohen added. "Theysaid they want payments and theysaid they want everybody charged in Jan. 6to get some money, no matterwhat you did."