Judge warns DOJ not to ‘play possum’ with ‘anti-weaponization’ fund it says is dead

The Trump administration has said the fund isn’t moving forward, but the president has said he’d like to pay purported victims “the kind of money that they deserve.”

WASHINGTON — A federal judge denied a request to temporarily halt the Trump administration’s proposed “anti-weaponization” fund but warned the Justice Department not to misrepresent the status of the $1.8 billion fund, which acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress is not moving forward.

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“Don’t play possum with this court,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon warned a Justice Department attorney in court Wednesday afternoon after he rejected the temporary restraining order request from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, one of several groups seeking to block the fund.

In addition to Blanche’s remarks to lawmakers about the status of the fund, the Justice Department said in a court filing last week that the initiative is “not going forward.”