Two Jan. 6 Officers Sue to Block Trump’s $1.8B DOJ Fund
CNBC reported Wednesday that two police officers present during the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack have filed a federal lawsuit targeting President Donald Trump’s new $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. The suit seeks to dismantle the Department of Justice mechanism before it distributes a single dollar.
Officers Call Fund Unconstitutional and Corrupt
The plaintiffs are Harry Dunn, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer, and Daniel Hodges, a serving Metropolitan Police Department officer in Washington. Both men were on duty the day a pro-Trump mob stormed the building and interrupted Congress’s certification of the 2020 election result.
Their complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, describes the fund as the most serious act of presidential corruption in the current century. The filing argues no existing statute authorizes the fund’s creation. It further contends the underlying settlement is fraudulent and the fund’s structure violates both the Constitution and federal law.
Named alongside Trump as defendants are Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
How the Fund Came to Exist
The DOJ announced the fund on Monday, describing it as the product of a settlement resolving a $10 billion legal claim. Trump, his two eldest sons, and The Trump Organization had pursued that claim against the Internal Revenue Service over the unauthorized disclosure of Trump’s tax records by an IRS employee.
Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney, established the fund in his capacity as acting attorney general. The DOJ framed the mechanism as a neutral claims process open to anyone alleging prosecutorial overreach. Officials stated submissions would be voluntary and free of partisan eligibility requirements.
Background: The ‘Lawfare’ Lexicon and Democratic Pushback
The terms “weaponization” and “lawfare” have circulated widely among Trump allies since federal and state prosecutors began investigating the former president’s efforts to reverse the 2020 election outcome. Criminal defendants charged in connection with the Capitol attack, along with Trump’s legal team, have routinely deployed both terms to frame those prosecutions as politically motivated.
Congressional Democrats moved quickly to condemn the fund, calling it a corrupt vehicle to reward participants in the January 6 riot with taxpayer money. The DOJ posted a formal settlement addendum to its website Tuesday, outlining how claims would be processed and what relief, including monetary payments and formal apologies, claimants could receive.
The lawsuit lands as legal challenges to Trump administration executive actions continue to accumulate across federal courts. A hearing date has not yet been publicly confirmed.
