Newsom to impose 100% tax on California payees of Trump’s $1.8bn fund

California governor Gavin Newsom is looking to thwart Donald Trump ’s $1.776bn “anti-weaponization fund ” by imposing a 100% tax on any payout received by state residents. In May, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced a fund to compensate alleged “victims of lawfare and weaponization”. It’s unclear who qualifies under this category. The fund was the product of a settlement reached between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – the agency the president sued over his leaked tax returns. Critics, including Newsom, have slammed the fund as a “boondoggle” designed to divert money to Trump’s allies. Speculation has swirled that its benefactors could include the individuals who were arrested in the 6 January 2021 siege of the US Capitol. The Trump administration has described the rioters as patriots and since pardoned many who were charged in relation to the attack. “People who assault cops and overthrow democracy don’t deserve a taxpayer-funded payday,” Newsom wrote in a Wednesday post to X, after announcing his plan at a news conference. Five people appointed by the US attorney general will preside over the $1.776bn, which will be funneled from a fund typically used to pay court judgments. Todd Blanche, the acting US attorney general, characterized the fund as an avenue “to make right the wrongs that were previously done”. Quarterly reports on who has received monetary relief and in what amount will be sent to the attorney general. …