Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and a handful of other Democrats are pushing a bill to block President Donald Trump from using a fund to pay people who say they’re victims of political persecution.
The Department of Justice established the $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund earlier this year.
Kelly called the fund a disgrace.
“This is corruption in broad daylight. This administration is trying to create this fund with taxpayer money to reward the president’s friends and these insurrectionists who attacked this building on January 6,” Kelly said.
Trump filed a lawsuit against the IRS for improperly releasing his tax returns. The DOJ created the fund as part of a settlement, penned by Trump appointee and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Blanche said Tuesday that he’s “not moving forward with the fund.”
That statement follows a federal judge’s order temporarily blocking the fund from going into effect, but Kelly said that’s not good enough and may not last.
“What we know is that we can’t trust the word of this administration. That’s why we’re introducing this legislation to put a permanent stop to this,” Kelly said.
Kelly is co-sponsoring the Drain the Slush Fund Act, which would permanently bar taxpayer dollars from being used as payments if they result from a judgement in a lawsuit filed by the president or vice president.
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