Ex-prosecutor and other Trump critics sue to block payouts from $1.8B 'anti-weaponization' fund

WASHINGTON — A coalition of President Donald Trump's critics, including a fired prosecutor and a college professor acquitted of assaulting federal agents at a protest, sued Friday to block payouts from a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for Trump allies claiming to be victims of a weaponized government. The lawsuit adds fuel to a mounting backlash against the Trump administration's creation of an "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to resolve the Republican president's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. Plaintiffs' attorneys from the legal advocacy group Democracy Forward are seeking a court order halting the fund's implementation and preventing the Trump administration from disbursing any payouts from it. The federal suit, filed in Alexandria, Virginia, claims there is no legal basis or accountability behind the fund. "The unlawfulness that has imbued the Anti-Weaponization Fund from its inception requires that it be wholly dismantled," the suit says. Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from a mob's attack on Jan. 6, 2021, also sued this week to prevent anyone, including Capitol rioters, from receiving payments from the settlement fund. During a congressional hearing on Tuesday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wouldn't rule out the possibility that rioters who assaulted police on Jan. 6 could be eligible for fund payouts. The plaintiffs for Friday's lawsuit include former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Floyd, an Alexandria resident who prosecuted Capitol riot cases in Washington, D.C., before he was fired last year by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. Floyd was a deputy chief of the Justice Department's Capitol Siege Section. He believes his firing was retaliation for his Jan. 6 work. Another plaintiff is California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, who was acquitted of an assault charge. He was accused of throwing a tear gas canister at federal agents during a 2025 protest against an immigration raid at a Camarillo, California, cannabis farm. Also named as plaintiffs are the government watchdog Common Cause; the city of New Haven, Connecticut; and the National Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers. New Haven claims the Trump administration officials have targeted it and other municipalities that they perceive to be "sanctuary" cities. The federation fears that the fund will issue payments to people who have attacked abortion clinics, providing an incentive for more violence against its members. The suit's defendants include the Justice and Treasury departments, Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Spokespeople for the departments didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The Capitol riot investigation was the largest in Justice Department history. Trump ended it with the stroke of his pardon pen, erasing hundreds of Jan. convictions. Nearly 1,600 people were charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 1,200 were convicted and sentenced before Trump handed out mass pardons, commuted prison sentences and ordered the dismissal of every pending Jan. 6 criminal case. Beneficiaries of Trump's sweeping act of clemency included supporters who assaulted officers at the Capitol. He also freed far-right extremist group members who were imprisoned for plotting to attack the Capitol to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden. After Trump returned to the White House last year, he appointed conservative activist Ed Martin as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Martin, a leading advocate for Jan. 6 defendants, fired or demoted some prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot cases.