Michael Caputo backs $1.8 billion fund as Clyde weighs payout
michael caputo reports on Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde’s support for Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, a plan Clyde said could also apply to him. He said the fund should make whole people who claim they were unfairly targeted by investigations from previous administrations.
Andrew Clyde and the fund
Clyde said the fund was for anyone who had been the victim of government weaponization and did not rule out seeking a payout himself. The Georgia Republican previously fought the IRS in court after civil assets worth $940,000 were forfeited in 2013, later received a $900,000 refund, and said he had paid legal fees totaling upwards of $100,000.
His comments land as the fund takes shape through a deal tied to Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leaking of his tax records. Trump agreed this week to drop the $10 billion lawsuit, and the $1.8 billion fund was announced as part of that settlement.
Justice Department memo
The Justice Department issued a memo on Thursday detailing how the scheme would work. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed an agreement on Tuesday declaring the federal government was “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons, and the Trump organization’s current tax issues as part of the deal.
The memo said there was no partisan restriction on applying for the fund. It also said the fund could cover people whose online speech was censored at the behest of the government, parents silenced at school boards, senators whose records were secretly subpoenaed, churchgoers targeted by the FBI, and others.
Debbie Dingell and Senate Republicans
Debbie Dingell called the arrangement “one of the most outrageous, unethical things I have yet to see this administration do” on Wednesday. Senate Republicans then abandoned plans on Thursday to advance major immigration enforcement legislation after internal disagreement over the proposed slush fund, a collapse that affected roughly $70 billion in planned funding for ICE, Border Patrol, and other agencies.
The memo said reports would go to the attorney general quarterly, outlining who had received compensation, and it left the attorney general to decide how much of those reports could be released to Congress and how much would be redacted. That gives the office a direct role in deciding how much lawmakers can see before any money moves out.
