Senate Democrats push for info on "anti-weaponization" fund, demand hearing

Washington — A group of Senate Democrats is pressing Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for more information about the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund and whether the Justice Department violated its own rules when it agreed to create the controversial program as part of a settlement with President Trump. Led by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, the four Democrats questioned how the fund complies with policies laid out in the Justice Manual for settlement agreements that involve payments to third parties. The senators suggested that the establishment of the program departed from the department's internal procedures. "The central question this letter demands you answer is not whether the fund will proceed, but whether the head of the Department of Justice ignored the Department's own rules to carry out an act of corruption designed to benefit the President and his allies," the Democrats wrote to Blanche. "This question does not become moot simply because courts and public pressure forced the Department to reverse course." Joining Booker in the effort are Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Adam Schiff of California and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. They asked Blanche to respond to their questions about the fund by July 8. "Your actions to create the Anti-Weaponization Fund raise every concern that DOJ's rules limiting third-party settlements were designed to address," they wrote. …