Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche has withdrawn an 18 May order that allowed for the creation of a $1.8bn 'weaponization fund'. Blanche also clarified that broad tax immunity granted by the justice department to Donald Trump, his sons, and businesses applied only retroactively.
The announcement on Sunday evening followed a compromise with Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who had threatened to block Blanche’s nomination as attorney general. Cornyn and Tillis stated on Monday that they would now support Blanche when his confirmation vote comes before the Senate judiciary committee on Tuesday.
Despite this, Democrats and several legal experts have criticised the agreement, describing it as weak and easily reversible by Donald Trump. Brandon DeBot, policy director at the Tax Law Center at NYU, said the assurances were "not worth the paper they’re written on." Jamie Raskin, ranking Democrat on the House judiciary committee, suggested the announcement does not prevent the justice department and Trump from creating a similar fund under a different name.
Donald Trump praised the fund on Monday, stating, "These people were treated so horribly, and this fund could’ve given them some solace." He added that he had not seen Blanche’s agreement and did not know what had been agreed.