A federal judge expressed doubts that President Donald Trump's slush fund is truly dead, and she's not alone in her skepticism.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a court order Friday blocking the so-called "anti-weaponization" fund and gave the Department of Justice one week to decide whether Attorney General Todd Blanche or another top-ranking Justice Department official would provide a sworn statement declaring the fund dead.
The Bill Clinton nominee's injunction extends a previous order prohibiting the government from creating or dispersing money from the $1.776 billion settlement agreement the president reached with the IRS.
Social media users welcomed the judge's action and shared her suspicions about whether the fund was truly defunct — and made some predictions about what comes next.
"Gonna make a thrilling appeal to Sammy Alito," predicted legal expert Marcy Wheeler.
"The Justice Dept has one week to produce EVIDENCE that the slush fund is abandoned and won’t move forward ever, or she’ll allow civil case to go forward," reported MeidasTouch correspondent Scott MacFarlane. "Big loss for team Trump."
"Contrary to some claims, judges have had no problem finding standing for plaintiffs - here the National Abortion Federation - to challenge Trump's Slush Fund," argued attorney Eric Lisann. "And this judge found the issue is not moot so long as Blanche refuses to backup his words in writing."
"Don't be fooled, this is still a TEMPORARY block," cautioned Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV). "Donald Trump has made it clear he still wants this slush fund to pay out his buddies and January 6 rioters who beat up police officers, and I don’t trust his cronies to put an end to it."
"As we've said all along, the slush fund is ILLEGAL," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). "Donald Trump: Stop it once and for all and start focusing on things people care about, not yourself."
"We’ve successfully blocked the President’s personal slush fund, for now," announced Common Cause, one of the plaintiffs in the challenge. "We will keep the pressure on until it's shut down for good. The Trump administration cannot be trusted with the public's money and today's ruling is a massive win to protect taxpayer dollars."
"The corruption doesn't ever go away; like reptiles, it sometimes dives back into the swampy muck and resurfaces elsewhere," opined conservative attorney George Conway.