Trump gives 9/11 first responders back the $3.3 million he took from health fund: GOP Congressman

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Rep. Peter King (R-NY) announced that the 9/11 first responders would get the $3.3 million back that President Donald Trump stole from the program that helped them with medical treatments.

Those at the Twin Towers site in the days following the terrorist attacks breathed in a series of toxic gasses and asbestosis, leading them to have a slew of health problems years later. A fund was set up to ensure that those heroes were always taken care of for the rest of their lives as they suffered through their final years.

“It’s a great victory for really deserving people,” King told the New York Daily News Saturday. "I mean this just never should have happened, but we fought hard, we got it done."

The stolen funds were taken to "offset still-unexplained disputes over Medicare debts the city has with the feds," the NYDN said.

"It has taken too long for this fix to be implemented, for a problem that never should have occurred in the first place," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). "I'm relieved that the program will be made whole and that any future disputes with NYC over possible debts will not involve holding 9/11 heroes' healthcare hostage."

King couldn't explain why the Trump administration would try to do something like this.

"Even just the optics of it should have been enough, apart from the morality and apart from the lack of decency here, just the optics of it where you're talking about 9/11 FDNY victims who were the face of 9/11 -- to be putting their health at risk over a bookkeeping issue, which didn't even involve them," King also said.

Weeks before the election, however, the funds were finally restored.

Read the full report.