'Stupid on stilts': Sen. Thom Tillis slams DOJ's $1.8 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'
While Democrats derided the $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund as a "slush fund," some Republicans have also expressed qualms, vowing to take measures to block it. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he was "not a big fan" of the plan, and Senator Thom Tillis went as far as to call the idea "stupid on stilts" and the fund a "payout pot for punks," referring to the possibility of the pardoned January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill attackers benefiting from it.
The Department of Justice on Monday created the fund to settle a $10 billion lawsuit filed against the Internal Revenue Service by President Donald Trump after a former contractor released his tax returns to media outlets. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche clarified that the fund was for those who were targets of "lawfare and weaponization" from previous administrations. As per the documents, a five-member commission will be appointed to hear claims of weaponization and determine whether claimants deserve compensation. However, when asked on Monday whether Jan. 6 rioters could be reimbursed, the President didn't deny, saying it would be for "reimbursing people that were horribly treated." Furthermore, Blanche stated that he "wouldn't rule out the possibility" at a Senate hearing.
Thus, the prospect has lawmakers up in arms on both sides, as Tillis ripped the proposal apart. "I think it's stupid on stilts," he told Spectrum News when asked about the fund. "It will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, and now we're going to pay them for that. That's absurd," he added. He claimed the American people will reject the plan out of hand, and no reasonable person would support it. Speaking to reporters, Tillis also called the fund a "payout for punks" as well.
Tillis added that the possibility of the rioters getting paid is bizarre and that makes the move tyrannical. "That front line had a lot of thugs that should still be in prison and remain there as long as the law would allow. They, too, are eligible for this payout. Your dollars and my dollars. That is the definition, as Thomas Jefferson once said, of tyranny, when you take money from me to give to a purpose that I vehemently disagree with," the GOP lawmaker explained, claiming lawmakers were ready to block the measure.
So far, the fund has faced legal opposition from two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Lead plaintiffs, former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges, called the measure a "corrupt sham" that will compensate and encourage the attackers who assaulted police officers. "In the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century, President Donald J. Trump has created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name," part of the 29-page lawsuit read. The officers argued that the fund "endangers" their "lives and safety" in two ways, first, it encourages those who enacted violence in the President's name to continue to do so, and second, the payments will finance violent operations of "rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters" who threatened police officers' lives on the fateful day.
