Capito Joins Concerns About DOJ ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund 

Some Republican senators, including Shelley Moore Capito, have expressed concern about an anti-weaponization fund announced this week by the U.S. Department of Justice.  

The fund is part of the nearly $1.8 billion settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  

It would allow people who believe they’ve been politically targeted for prosecution to apply for financial payouts.  

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “It is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again. As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.” 

But many lawmakers have questioned who can apply and who approves those payouts.  

It’s not clear if they could go, for example, to people convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  

After a meeting Thursday between Republican senators and Blanche, Capito told reporters that she, too, is eager for more details. 

“I do have questions,” Capito said. “I don’t know what an anti-weaponization fund is. I do understand the weaponization that has occurred in the past in terms of overreach by the Department of Justice in certain areas, but there are a lot of questions… whether this is something that has been created before, what the parameters are, who’s able to access this, and so the acting Attorney General was answering the questions and I’m not sure what the future is.” 

Fund disbursements would be approved by five people appointed by the attorney general, one of them in consultation with Congressional leadership.