When asked at a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing last month whether members of far-right extremist groups like the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers could be eligible for payments under the fund, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who described the fund as “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress,” said that “anybody in this country can apply.”
Two officers who helped protect the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots have also sued the Trump Administration to block the fund. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that the fund is “illegal,” describing it as a “taxpayer-funded slush fund to finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name.”
Schumer said in his “Dear Colleague” letter that “the courts will not be the only line of defense,” vowing to investigate all parties involved in the approval of the settlement, including the DOJ, the Treasury Department, the White House, and “who stands to benefit” from its payouts.
