Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from an attack by a mob of Trump supporters are suing to block anyone — including Jan. 6, 2021, rioters — from receiving payouts from a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated prosecutions.
Traffic Alert: Deadly crash shuts down County Road 218 in both directions at Eagle Point Road in Middleburg‘We can’t get answers’: Residents fear eviction as foreclosure lawsuits hit complexes tied to troubled landlordJax Beach city leaders consider 2-year plan to let bars, restaurants expand outdoor space for Jaguars game-day crowdsFILE - Rioters storm the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
FILE - Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. FILE - Violent protesters gather outside the U.S. Capitol, Jan 6, 2021. FILE - Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
$1.776 billion settlement fund The officers' attorneys filed the federal lawsuit a day after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the fund's creation during a congressional hearing. Blanche, a personal attorney for President Donald Trump before joining the Justice Department, wouldn't rule out the possibility thatThe lawsuit claims the government's “Anti-Weaponization Fund" is an illegal slush fund that Trump will use to “finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name.
” It describes the fund's creation as"the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century" and calls for dissolving it.
“No statute authorizes its creation, the settlement on which it is premised is a corrupt sham, and its design violates the Constitution and federal law,” the suit says.over the leak of his tax returns. It’s designed to compensate those who believe they were mistreated by prior administrations’ Justice Department. Decisions on payouts will be made by a five-member commission appointed by the attorney general. More than 100 police officers were injured during the Capitol riot.
Over 1,600 people were charged with Jan. 6-related crimes, but Trump used his pardon powers to erase all of those cases in a sweeping act of clemency last year. The plaintiffs suing Trump over the fund are Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges and former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who is running in Maryland for a seat in Congress. Hodges and Dunn both testified before Congress about their harrowing experiences on Jan. 6.
Videos captured a rioter ripping a mask off Hodges as he was pinned against a door during a fight for control of a tunnel entrance. The officers claim the fund “encourages those who enacted violence in the President’s name to continue to do so. ” “Dunn and Hodges already face credible threats of death and violence on regular basis; the Fund substantially increases the danger,” the suit alleges. On Tuesday, members of Congress peppered Blanche with questions about the fund.
He described it as “unusual” but not unprecedented. Blanche failed to acknowledge that Trump’s Justice Department has investigated and prosecuted some of the Republican president’s political enemies, including Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also are named as defendants in the officers’ lawsuit. Spokespeople for the Justice and Treasury departments didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the suit. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press.
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