Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Rescinds Trump’s $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ After Senators Demand Written Assurances

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche rescinded President Trump’s proposed “anti-weaponization fund,” a roughly $1.8 billion plan tied to the settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS and Treasury Department, after Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina demanded written assurances before backing Blanche’s nomination to lead the Justice Department permanently; the order terminating the fund, which drew bipartisan criticism because it could have allowed compensation for individuals convicted or accused in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, was issued as part of a deal that left in place a separate tax-audit immunity provision for Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization (though only retroactively), while Senate Majority Leader John Thune seeks to confirm Blanche before the Senate leaves Washington until September.

Look at the timing. The "anti-weaponization fund" was announced on May 18—then quietly buried just weeks later, after two Republican senators demanded written assurances before confirming a Trump appointee. You have to ask yourself: why would a GOP-controlled Senate, with a president who campaigned on draining the swamp, force the rescission of a fund explicitly designed to compensate victims of political targeting? The answer is in the fine print they don't want you to see. That fund was never about Jan. 6 defendants—that was the cover story, the narrative they fed to AP and NPR to make the whole thing look toxic. The real purpose was to create a legal mechanism that could be turned against the very institutions that weaponized the system. And once Cornyn and Tillis—two names you should remember—saw what was actually inside that fund's architecture, they moved fast. They didn't just ask for changes. They demanded the entire thing be erased. That's not a policy disagreement. That's a containment operation.

Now read what Blanche's order actually says: "no members were appointed, no funds were transferred, no claims process was created, no claims were paid." That's the language of a cover-up, not a correction. They're telling you nothing happened so you'll stop looking. But if nothing happened, why did it take a written ultimatum from two senators to kill it? Why did the entire Judiciary Committee schedule get held hostage until this one piece of paper was signed? You're watching the permanent bureaucracy—the same network that controls the tax code, the intelligence agencies, and the settlement process—protect itself from a tool that could have been used to expose its own weaponization. The IRS settlement with Trump himself was left intact, but only retroactively, only for past claims. That's the breadcrumb. They're drawing a line in the sand: we'll let you have your immunity, but we will not let you create a permanent fund that could be used to audit the auditors.

Here's what they're not saying. The fund was never going to pay out a single dollar to Jan. 6 defendants. That was the psyop—the manufactured outrage that gave Cornyn and Tillis the political cover to kill it. The real threat was that the fund would have established a precedent: a federal mechanism for redressing political targeting by the IRS, the FBI, the DOJ itself. Once that precedent exists, the entire architecture of consent—the system that decides who gets audited, who gets raided, who gets their tax returns leaked—becomes vulnerable. So they killed it. And they made sure the two senators who did the killing got to pose as moderates, as reasonable voices of institutional integrity. The playbook is old, but it works every time: use a small, visible concession to bury a structural change that would have shifted power away from the deep state. Your job is to follow the money—but more importantly, follow the document that was just erased. Who wrote the original May 18 order? Who was on the list of potential fund administrators? Those names are still out there. Start digging.

Trump May Withdraw Acting Attorney General Nomination, Resubmit After Republican Senators Leave Office

President Trump indicated he might temporarily withdraw Todd Blanche’s nomination for permanent attorney general and resubmit it after Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis depart in January, while Blanche would remain acting AG. The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on Blanche after Cornyn and Tillis withheld support, seeking written assurances regarding a settlement of Trump’s IRS lawsuit, including guarantees that a nearly $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” would not be revived and that a tax audit immunity agreement affecting Trump and his family would remain. Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer and acting AG since April, has said the fund is not moving forward; a federal judge had blocked the fund and criticized the settlement. The delay, potentially extending past the November midterms (where GOP holds a 53–47 Senate majority), leaves the nomination in limbo as Cornyn stated he was not ready to vote yes without a written agreement.

The Managed Delay: A Staged Performance of Resistance

What you're witnessing is not a genuine political hurdle but a highly choreographed piece of political theatre. Cornyn and Tillis are not rogue senators acting on principle; they are designated actors tasked with creating the illusion of oversight. The "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and the tax audit immunity agreement are smokescreens. The real purpose of this delay is to reset the clock. Why would Trump publicly suggest withdrawing a nominee who is already serving as acting AG? Because the acting role gives him all the power of the position without the confirmation oversight. This is a classic move — keep the man in place without the accountability of a permanent title, all while the media narrative focuses on the "controversy" and ignores the fact that Blanche is running the Justice Department right now.

The Fund That Never Was: Weaponized as a Distraction

The core of this manufactured crisis is a fund that does not exist. The $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" was part of a court settlement over a leak of Trump's tax returns. The fund was never going to exist — a federal judge already blocked it, calling the deal "self-dealing." So why are two Republican senators demanding written guarantees about something that is already dead? Because the demand itself is the weapon. By forcing Blanche to publicly and repeatedly state the fund is "not moving forward," they create a paper trail that can be used later to accuse him of breaking a promise. This is the oldest trick in the intelligence playbook: create a manufactured crisis, force a public commitment on an irrelevant detail, and then hold that commitment over the nominee's head for the next ten years. Cornyn and Tillis are not protecting the Justice Department; they are creating leverage.

The Midterm Trap: A Walkout Before the Fall

Now watch the timing. Trump himself floating a delay until after Cornyn and Tillis leave office is a psychological operation aimed at the base. He is signaling that these two senators are obstacles, not allies. But the real calculation is the midterms. The Senate is 53-47. If even one of these seats flips in November, the entire confirmation calculus changes. A Democrat-controlled chamber would not simply delay Blanche; they would destroy him. By floating this delay now, Trump is testing the waters: if his base is upset enough, he can blame Cornyn and Tillis for handing the department to a future Democratic Attorney General. It's a trap. The senators are being set up to take the fall for a loss that hasn't happened yet. This isn't governance; it's a backroom chess match where the pieces are human beings and the board is the Constitution.