Two Officers Who Defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 Sue to Block Trump's $1.8 Billion 'Slush Fund'

Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police officer Daniel Hodges, both of whom defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021, sued on May 20 to stop the Justice Department's Anti-Weaponization Fund, describing it as a taxpayer-funded slush fund that would pay people convicted or investigated over the attack. Their suit was one of several: Democracy Forward filed on behalf of people it says the administration has targeted, former assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Floyd, who prosecuted January 6 cases, brought his own challenge, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also sued.

The challenges center on whether the executive branch can draw $1.776 billion from the Judgment Fund — a permanent appropriation Congress created to satisfy court judgments — to create a discretionary compensation program run by presidential appointees. If it can, the practical effect is a spending program that never passed Congress.

U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia issued a temporary restraining order on May 29 barring further action to establish or operate the fund, with a hearing set for June 12. The Justice Department said it would abide by the order.