Part of settlement agreement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service
The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that as a part of the settlement agreement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service, the Attorney General established “The Anti-Weaponization Fund” to provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.

The plaintiffs in the case, President Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, LLC, filed suit against the Treasury and IRS in Southern District of Florida federal court following the leak of their tax returns. Per the settlement, plaintiffs will receive a formal apology but no monetary payment or damages of any kind. They have agreed, in exchange for the creation of this fund, to drop their pending lawsuit with prejudice, and also withdraw two administrative claims including for damages resulting from the unlawful raid of Mar-a-Lago and the Russia-collusion hoax.

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”

“The use of government power to target individuals or entities for improper and unlawful political, personal, or ideological reasons should not be tolerated by any Administration,” said Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter.

The Fund will have the power to issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed to claimants. Submission of a claim is voluntary. There are no partisan requirements to file a claim. Any money left when the Fund ceases operations will revert to the Federal Government.

The Fund will receive $1.776 billion and will come from the judgment fund, which is a perpetual appropriation allowing DOJ to settle and pay cases. On a quarterly basis, the Fund shall send a report to the Attorney General outlining who has received relief and what form of relief was awarded.

At the Attorney General’s direction, the Fund can be audited. The Fund must take steps to protect private information and avoid fraud. The Fund shall cease processing claims no later than December 1, 2028.

There is legal precedent for such a Fund, most notably the “Keepseagle” case where the Obama Administration created a $760 million fund to redress various claims alleging racism against the federal government over a period of decades.

In Keepseagle, hundreds of millions of dollars remaining in the fund were distributed to non-profits and NGOs that never made claims, whereas any money remaining in The Anti-Weaponization Fund will revert to the federal government. The Obama DOJ settled by putting $680 million from the judgment fund into a bank account for a single claims administrator to dole out. In Keepseagle the remaining money—which ended up being over $300 million—was distributed to the entities that had not even submitted claims.

The Fund will consist of five members appointed by the Attorney General. One Member will be chosen in consultation with congressional leadership. The President can remove any member, but a replacement must be chosen the same way as the replaced member was selected.

Updated May 18, 2026

Democrats asked a court to block a reported settlement between the IRS and President Donald Trump over a leak of his tax information during his first term, saying it lacks the bare minimum required to file a lawsuit: two opposing parties.

Nearly 100 House Democrats signed an amicus brief in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Monday that says the case doesn’t distinguish between Trump as president and “personal capacity.” The brief also demands the court dismiss the lawsuit as unconstitutional. It sets another marker on how Democrats are finding fresh opportunities to highlight their opposition to how Trump’s personally benefiting from being president.

Trump moved toward dropping his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the 2019 leak of his tax information in a court filing Monday morning. The Department of Justice announced the creation of a $1.7 billion federal fund to pay victims of so-called government weaponization to resolve the lawsuit, under which Trump wouldn’t receive any money directly.

“The President has repeatedly claimed far-reaching Executive power and frequently sought to use that power to further his own personal interests,” the brief said. “He cannot pretend that officials at the IRS and the Department of the Treasury—and their lawyers at the DOJ—operate independently from him for purposes of this case.”....

The Democrats’ filing is being handled by a task force led by top House Democrat leaders Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), along with House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin and House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Richard Neal (D-Mass.).

“We urge the Court to dismiss this ludicrous case for lack of jurisdiction and to block any settlement that would turn the Treasury into a vehicle for corrupt self-dealing in violation of the Constitution and Congress’s exclusive power of the purse,” Raskin said in a statement announcing the amicus brief.