WASHINGTON \u2014 Opponents of a $1.776 billion taxpayer-backed \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund projected a quotation from one of the Founding Fathers onto the Justice Department building in protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA government of laws, not of men,\u201d read the quotation from John Adams, the second president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The quotation was shown over one of the large banners of President Donald Trump that were set up in February at the Justice Department headquarters, known as \u201cMain Justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stacey Young, a former Justice Department employee who founded the group Justice Connection, which projected the phrase onto the building, told NBC News that the \u201c$1.8 billion slush fund\u201d was \u201cappalling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are standing up for department\u2019s integrity and the rule of law,\u201d Young said outside the building. The Justice Department is operating \u201cas an arm of the White House\u201d and doing Trump\u2019s bidding by protecting his allies and going after his enemies, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat is an extraordinary abuse of power, and it\u2019s a sign that the rule of law is crumbling before our eyes,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice Connection said the Trump administration \u201cshifted the country away from a system of laws and toward an era of lawlessness,\u201d citing the firing of prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases and \u201ccash payments\u201d to Capitol riot defendants it expects the Trump administration to pay out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a congressional hearing that the fund was for anyone who felt they were the victims of a weaponized government. He said applying doesn\u2019t mean a guarantee of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fund was created as part of a settlement with Trump to drop legal claims. Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization sued the IRS for $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns, and he made other claims of damages in connection with a 2022 search of his Florida home and the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fund has drawn scrutiny from Democrats, as well as some Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who said Tuesday he was \u201cnot a big fan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blanche will appoint five members of a board that will oversee the payouts, all of whom Trump can fire. Congress will weigh in on one of the five members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who signed off on the deal, told reporters Tuesday that it was \u201cway, way, way too early\u201d to \u201crush to judgment on whether this was a good or a bad idea, to describe it as a slush fund or really even to criticize it\u201d because no claims had been filed or paid yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo come see us after we\u2019ve made one of these so-called corrupt payments. Come see us after this fund exists as a so-called slush fund,\u201d Woodward said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is correct for the weaponization that was pervasive in the last administration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n