Vance defends DOJ's nearly $1.8B 'weaponization' fund

(The Center Square) - Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday defended a nearly $1.8 billion taxpayer fund through the U.S. Department of Justice aimed at supporting victims of "lawfare and weaponization."

The $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" would support individuals who have been targeted by "lawfare and weaponization," according to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. The fund came out of the settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit between President Donald Trump and the IRS over the leaking of his tax returns. 

Vance said Republicans and Democrats could recieve some of the funds while the DOJ vets applications for assistance. 

"This is about compensating Americans for the lawfare that we saw during the [Biden] administration," Vance said. "The people that would get the money are people, some of whom have been prosecuted completely disproportinate to any crime they've ever committed."

Vance pointed to Tina Peters, a county clerk in Colorado, who was convicted on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election of President Joe Biden. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced he would commute her sentence, making her eligible for parole as early as June 1. 

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Peters was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges including unauthorized access to election machines. 

"I'm not committing to giving anybody money or committing to giving no one money," Vance said. "What I'm committing to is a legal process to review these claims and to make sure that people who are mistreated by their government get a little bit of compensation."

Vance declined to rule out allowing individuals involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from receiving funds from the DOJ. He said the fund is set to be a deliberative process and part of the Trump administration's overall goal to ease financial pain for Americans. 

"We can give just compensation to people who are mistreated by the government," Vance said. "We can also make sure that the American people, we do everything that we can to make their lives better, to make them more prosperous, to give them better jobs."