Gavin Newsom vows to impose 100% tax on California payees of Trump's $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday announced that his state will impose a 100% tax on payments distributed to residents under the Trump administration's nearly $1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund. Calling it a "slush fund," Newsom scathed that nobody who assaults police officers should get a payout, referring to the possibility of pardoned Jan 6 rioters getting restitution. 

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced a fund to compensate alleged "victims of lawfare and weaponization." The $1.776 billion fund stemmed from a settlement between President Donald Trump and the DOJ over a $10 billion lawsuit that he filed against the Internal Revenue Service. While it is currently unclear who qualifies to apply for compensation, critics have slammed it as a scheme to divert taxpayers' money to Trump's allies. "Anyone from California that receives any of those funds, we want to tax 100 percent of those proceeds," Newsom announced during a press conference in his office.

This comes as speculation swirled that the fund's benefactors could include the individuals who were arrested in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the U.S. Capitol, as the Trump administration had pardoned people en masse who assaulted police officers during the riots. "People who assault cops and overthrow democracy don't deserve a taxpayer-funded payday," Newsom wrote in a Wednesday post on X, after announcing his plan. 

So far, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has stated that a five-member committee will preside over the fund, and they will take applications for compensation. He justified the measure, claiming it was an effort "to make right the wrongs that were previously done." In trying to defend the fund, Vice President J.D. Vance went as far as to say that "anybody can apply" to get money from this fund, including Hunter Biden, "hypothetically", as per NBC News. 

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers have taken measures to block the fund, and Newsom's pledge mirrors legislation unveiled earlier this week in New York by Democrat Alex Bores, a state assemblymember and House candidate. Bores also announced a 100% tax on payouts from the fund, and he is pushing for a vote by next week, according to Politico. In an interview, Queens state Sen. Mike Gianaris said the measure was in the process of being introduced in the Democratic-dominated Legislature. "There's widespread, bipartisan agreement that this is bald-faced corruption at its worst, and if we have the ability in New York to combat it by ensuring that none of this money benefits anyone in our state's borders, I'd expect there'd be widespread support for that idea," he said.

While Democrats are up in arms against the notion of Jan. 6 rioters getting restitution, it happens to be that the first person to file a claim was a political operative and long-time ally of Trump, Michael Caputo. According to NBC, Caputo, in his application, is seeking $2.7 million in restitution, claiming that he was targeted in a "Crossfire Hurricane" during the FBI Investigation that probed Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential elections. Caputo posted the letter addressed to Blanche on X, claiming that he and his family were targeted by the politically weaponized "machinery of government" from July 2016 to December 2025.