{"id":1075,"date":"2026-07-13T19:41:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1075"},"modified":"2026-07-13T19:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T19:41:10","slug":"judge-rebukes-settlement-creating-trumps-anti-weaponization-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1075","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rebukes Settlement Creating Trump\u2019s \u2018Anti-Weaponization\u2019 Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A federal judge in Florida on Monday issued a scathing rebuke of President Donald Trump\u2019s settlement with the IRS over his leaked tax returns, ruling that Trump, his private attorneys and the Justice Department had manipulated the judicial process to benefit Trump and his allies.<\/p>\n

Read more The Social Security Chief Keeps Sending Staff His Daughter\u2019s Pretzels<\/a><\/p>\n

The ruling from Judge Kathleen M. Williams appears to void a settlement the Justice Department announced in May that included an immunity agreement for Trump and his family, along with an attempt to create a nearly $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund for people who claim to have been unfairly targeted by federal authorities.<\/p>\n

Williams wrote in that Trump, who filed the suit after returning to office in January, had brought the case \u201cto gain the imprimatur of judicial legitimacy for a \u2018settlement\u2019 that had no viable basis in law or fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

She prohibited Trump and his family, as well as the IRS and Treasury Department, from referring to \u201cthe purported \u2018settlement agreement\u2019\u201d or citing it as any evidence of a settlement in the case.<\/p>\n

Williams also excoriated the Justice Department and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whose confirmation hearing for attorney general is scheduled for Wednesday. She noted that before the settlement, no attorney from the department had filed a notice of appearance or any document stating the government\u2019s position in the case. She ordered sanctions against the private attorneys involved, referring one of them to the state bar for potential disciplinary action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis action was never about a party seeking judicial resolution of a legal issue or a factual dispute,\u201d Williams wrote. \u201cThe nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

William also wrote the government entered into a settlement that \u201cdeviated from its litigation posture in similar actions, disregarded DOJ policies, and accomplished objectives beyond those authorized, as well as those specifically prohibited, by law.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Trump\u2019s legal team said in a statement: \u201cThe IRS wrongly allowed a rogue, politically-motivated employee to leak private and confidential information about President Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization to the New York Times, ProPublica and other left-wing news outlets, which was then illegally released to millions of people. President Trump continues to hold those who wrong America and Americans accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the order. A White House spokesperson declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Trump and his sons brought the lawsuit against the IRS in January, seeking $10 billion in compensation from the agency over a contractor\u2019s leak of their tax returns to news outlets years earlier.<\/p>\n

The \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund and immunity agreement quickly became flash points when the Justice Department announced the resolution of the case in May.<\/p>\n

Read more Wisconsin Governor Candidate Fires Campaign Manager Over Financial \u2018Inaccuracies\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Lawmakers and others raised alarms that the fund could be used to compensate people who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Government watchdog groups filed suits to block the fund, and a judge last month issued an order indefinitely barring it from proceeding.<\/p>\n

Following uproar from Republicans and Democrats in Congress and multiple legal setbacks, Blanche testified last month in Congress that the fund was \u201cnot moving forward.\u201d Justice Department lawyers have made similar statements in court, but Blanche has refused to put that in writing.<\/p>\n

A group of former federal judges separately wrote to Williams in May asking her to probe whether the settlement in the IRS case constituted a \u201cfraud on the court\u201d and the result of \u201ccollusion\u201d among the parties.<\/p>\n

In her ruling Monday, Williams said she was convinced that the president, his private lawyers, and the Justice Department weren\u2019t actually adverse parties in the case, and that the Justice Department failed to \u201czealously defend\u201d the government\u2019s interests as a defendant in the litigation.<\/p>\n

She noted that Blanche had served as Trump\u2019s personal lawyer in his criminal cases, and that Stanley Woodward Jr., the current associate attorney general whose signature appears on the settlement, represented several individuals charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Another lawyer for Trump, Daniel Epstein, served as a White House lawyer in Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of either recusing because of their previous representations or vigorously defending this lawsuit as required to do so by DOJ policies and procedures,\u201d Williams wrote, \u201cthese lawyers agreed to a \u2018settlement\u2019 involving a staggering amount of money potentially benefitting former clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanche\u2019s promise to members of Congress<\/span> that the fund was dead showed that he was essentially representing both sides of the case, Williams said. His \u201ccertitude supports the conclusion that the Parties worked in tandem and were never actually adverse,\u201d she wrote, adding that \u201cthat there was only one party whose interests were being represented throughout this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Had Trump brought the case while he was a private citizen, Williams said, it might have been resolved in a few months. Instead, she said, he didn\u2019t pursue his claims until he had appointed his former lawyer and a former lawyer who had represented Jan. 6 defendants to top posts in the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese officials then negotiated on behalf of the United States, with his current lawyers, including his former White House Counsel to reach a \u2018settlement,\u2019\u201d Williams wrote. \u201cIt is risible to suggest that there was ever adverseness between the Parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Says U.S. Should Collect Fee as \u2018GUARDIAN\u2019 of the Strait of Hormuz<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Order concludes Trump and Justice Department manipulated the judicial process for an \u201cimprimatur of judicial legitimacy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courts"],"yoast_head":"\nJudge Rebukes Settlement Creating Trump\u2019s \u2018Anti-Weaponization\u2019 Fund - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1075\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Judge Rebukes Settlement Creating Trump\u2019s \u2018Anti-Weaponization\u2019 Fund - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Order concludes Trump and Justice Department manipulated the judicial process for an \u201cimprimatur of judicial legitimacy.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1075\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-13T19:41:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Judge Rebukes Settlement Creating Trump\u2019s \u2018Anti-Weaponization\u2019 Fund\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T19:41:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075\"},\"wordCount\":971,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/56b89011a1bf8ccba11a02501f2f0c5b-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Courts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075\",\"name\":\"Judge Rebukes Settlement Creating Trump\u2019s \u2018Anti-Weaponization\u2019 Fund - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/56b89011a1bf8ccba11a02501f2f0c5b-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-13T19:41:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=1075#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/56b89011a1bf8ccba11a02501f2f0c5b-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/56b89011a1bf8ccba11a02501f2f0c5b-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, June 10, 2026, in Washington. 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