Police officers injured during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging President Donald Trump’s controversial $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” arguing the program could improperly benefit Capitol rioters and other political allies.
According to Politico, the lawsuit was filed by former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack and later suffered injuries, trauma, or lasting medical complications tied to the riot.
The officers argue the Justice Department lacked legal authority to establish such a large compensation system without direct congressional authorization. The complaint also claims the administration failed to create clear safeguards preventing violent offenders — including individuals convicted of assaulting police officers — from receiving payouts.
“Dunn and Hodges did not back down on January 6. Instead, they held the line to defend democracy and the rule of law. They bring this case to do so once again,” the lawsuit states.
Filed in federal district court in Washington, the suit contends that the fund violates the 14th Amendment, which bars federal money from being used to “pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”
According to Politico, Justice Department attorneys are expected to argue that the officers do not have standing to bring the lawsuit in the first place:
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward called criticism of the fund misguided and premature.
“To all the panicans out there, look, as the associate attorney general, I already have the authority to settle any claim that is brought against the United States of America,” Woodward said. “I think that it’s way, way, way too early for us to rush to judgment on whether this was a good or a bad idea or to describe it as a slush fund, or really even to criticize it … because there’s not been a single claim filed, there’s not been a single payment made.”
The plaintiffs in the new lawsuit are among the highest profile of the police officers who confronted the Jan. 6 rioters. Video of Hodges screaming as he was being crushed by rioters in a door frame on the West Terrace of the Capitol became one of the most searing images of the event. Dunn engaged in hand-to-hand combat with rioters and testified that he faced “a torrent of racial epithets” from Trump supporters during the showdown.
Dunn is running for Congress, in a crowded field seeking the Democratic nomination in Maryland’s 5th district.
The “Anti-Weaponization Fund” was created through a settlement tied to Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax records. Administration officials say the fund is intended to compensate Americans allegedly harmed by politically motivated federal investigations and government “weaponization.”
The fund has quickly emerged as one of the Trump administration’s most controversial legal initiatives, drawing criticism from Democrats, ethics watchdogs, and some Republicans who argue taxpayers should not bear the financial risk of compensating individuals connected to violence at the U.S. Capitol.
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The democrat biden administration definitely weaponized government against their political opponents. I believe it was a total setup to cover up a corrupt election. Trump offered national guard but pelosi refused. They arrested thousands no matter the age and many never even entered the Capital — their phone pings or credit card use just indicated they were in the vecinity. There eas clear video that I watched with capital police waving demonstrators into the capital and I believe even holding the doors open. Capital police were videoed giving tours. Thousands were hunted down and incarcerated in one of the worst jails in the country snd held for years without bail and then charged with nothing but misdemeanors. The corrupt J6 committee was picked by dems with only rinos to represent republicans and they only concentrated on trying to show that Trump was an insurrectionest in order to keep him from ever running for office again. It was all about “get Trump”. The young white woman who was shot and killed by a black cop while she was defenselessly climbing through a window —— if the races were reversed there would have been hell to pay but instead it was crickets. This was an historic scandal created by none other than a corrupt democrat administration.
I don’t know why I go to the trouble of writing a long comment when it appears American liberty news has not got the integrity to print TRUTH.