The Trump administration refused to formally kill its nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund on Friday, declining to submit a court-requested sworn declaration to a federal judge acknowledging the program is dead.

Instead, the Department of Justice continued to rely on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s congressional testimony that the administration is not moving forward with the fund.

In a notice to the court, the DOJ wrote, “Such declarations are unnecessary and the compelled testimony of senior officials from the Executive Branch implicates serious separation of powers concerns.”

The refusal by Blanche and the DOJ to put a pledge in writing not to create the fund — aimed at compensating those who believe they were the victims of alleged prosecutorial overreach —is likely to spark political backlash, especially on Capitol Hill where Blanche’s permanent nomination to head the department is pending.

The DOJ maintains its public statements — both in Blanche’s congressional testimony and in written court filings and hearings — should be sufficient. “All these statements were made under the backdrop of serious penalties for falsity,” it writes. “So there is no reason why declarations should affect the Court’s mootness analysis.”,,,,,

At last week’s hearing in Virginia, Brinkema expressed similar misgivings about Trump’s comments and Blanche’s reluctance to put a pledge not to create the fund in writing. These misgivings will likely continue to bubble now that the DOJ has declined to submit the declaration and the litigation will likely continue.