The United States Department of Justice refused to submit a written commitment to the dispute fund

The United States Department of Justice stated that there was no need for a written commitment to abandon an $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, as senior government officials had previously made a clear statement in Congress that the plan would not continue.

The judge requested the affidavit.

Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema of Virginia had previously requested the Acting Minister of Justice, Todd Blanche, and the Minister of Finance, Scott Bessent, to submit a written affidavit within one week confirming that the Fund would not advance. She indicated that, in the absence of such official documents, the Court would not have agreed to set aside the claim to permanently block the Fund ' s proceedings.

The ban on the Fund was extended last week by Brinkema. In her view, the previous oral statements by the Ministry of Justice leadership before the courts and the National Assembly were insufficient to resolve the dispute.

The Ministry of Justice says written commitments are unnecessary.

In its submission on Friday, the Ministry of Justice stated that the judge's request was “necessary” and that it raised “serious issues of separation of powers”.

In the document, Andrew Block, a lawyer in the Ministry of Justice, wrote that the Acting Minister of Justice had testified in Congress that the Fund “would not advance”, and that the same position had been reiterated twice by government lawyers in court documents and similarly expressed in public hearings.

The court's doubts were heightened by Trump's statement.

The fund was originally proposed by the Department of Justice in May as part of a settlement between Trump and the United States Internal Revenue Service on the disclosure of tax records. The size of the Fund, $1.8 billion, was intended to compensate victims of alleged excessive prosecution law enforcement during the Biden administration.

Critics fear, however, that the funds could be used to pay compensation to the Trump allies, including defendants or guilty pleas related to the parliamentary riots of 6 January 2021.

One of the reasons why the Court continued its inquiries was that Blanche had subsequently expressed the wish to move the Fund forward, following testimony by Congress. This inconsistent statement is an important reason for judges to request a sworn declaration from the Government.