A federal judge refused to let the Trump administration close the book Friday on a controversial $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" meant to compensate the president's political allies, brushing aside the government's argument that the case no longer has anything left to decide.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, sitting in Alexandria, Virginia, held off on ruling from the bench on the government's bid to toss the lawsuit outright, unconvinced by a Justice Department attorney's assurance that the fund concept had already been shelved for good, Politico reported.
"The issues that underlie this case are still alive and kicking, in my view," Brinkema said.
The dispute traces to a settlement Trump's legal team struck with the IRS over the leaked disclosure of his tax returns.
Once word got out that the compensation pool could theoretically pay out to Jan. 6 defendants convicted of assaulting police officers at the Capitol, the backlash proved fierce enough on both sides of the aisle to jeopardize Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation. Blanche eventually announced in June that the administration was backing away from the fund itself, while making clear the broader deal shielding Trump and his businesses from future IRS audits would remain intact. But from the outset, the administration has taken some steps that cast doubt the fund is truly dead.
Legal advocacy group Democracy Forward, representing the plaintiffs who sued in May, contends the executive branch simply lacks the authority to steer public funds toward a program benefiting the president's own supporters.
Brinkema, appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton, had already kept the fund frozen through a court order issued back in June, and her comments Friday made clear she isn't prepared to treat the fight as resolved just because the administration says it's walking away.