{"id":551,"date":"2026-05-20T19:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=551"},"modified":"2026-05-20T19:03:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:03:54","slug":"officers-who-defended-capitol-from-rioters-sue-to-block-payouts-from-1-8b-anti-weaponization-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=551","title":{"rendered":"Officers who defended Capitol from rioters sue to block payouts from $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from an attack by a mob of Trump supporters sued on Wednesday to block anyone \u2014 including Jan. 6, 2021, rioters \u2014 from receiving payouts from a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated prosecutions.<\/p>\n

Read more Man jailed for 37 days over post on Charlie Kirk\u2019s death wins $835K settlement<\/a><\/p>\n

RELATED STORY | <\/b>What is the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion \u2018anti-weaponization fund\u2019 for?<\/b><\/p>\n

The officers’ attorneys filed the federal lawsuit a day after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the fund’s creation during a congressional hearing. Blanche, a personal attorney for President Donald Trump before joining the Justice Department, wouldn’t rule out the possibility that rioters who assaulted police on Jan. 6 would be eligible for fund payouts.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit claims the government’s \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund” is an illegal slush fund that Trump will use to \u201cfinance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name.\u201d It describes the fund’s creation as “the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century.”<\/p>\n

More than 100 police officers were injured during the Capitol riot. Over 1,600 people were charged with Jan. 6-related crimes, but Trump used his pardon powers to erase all of those cases in a sweeping act of clemency last year.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs suing Trump over the fund are Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges and former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who is running in Maryland for a seat in Congress. Hodges and Dunn both testified before Congress about their harrowing experiences on Jan. 6. Videos captured a rioter ripping a mask off Hodges as he was pinned against a door during a fight for control of a tunnel entrance.<\/p>\n

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On Tuesday, members of Congress peppered Blanche with questions about the fund. He described it as \u201cunusual\u201d but not unprecedented. Blanche failed to acknowledge that Trump\u2019s Justice Department has investigated and prosecuted some of the Republican president\u2019s political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.<\/p>\n

The fund stems from a settlement of Trump\u2019s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. It\u2019s designed to compensate those who believe they were mistreated by prior administrations\u2019 Justice Department. Decisions on payouts will be made by a five-member commission appointed by the attorney general.<\/p>\n

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | <\/b>Government agrees to drop tax claims against Trump in IRS lawsuit settlement<\/b><\/p>\n

Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also are named as defendants in the officers\u2019 lawsuit. Spokespeople for the Justice and Treasury departments didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the suit.<\/p>\n

One of the attorneys for the officers is Brendan Ballou, a former Justice Department prosecutor who handled Jan. 6 cases.<\/p>\n

Read more Barney Frank, a liberal congressman and trailblazer for gay rights, dies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 sue to stop any payouts \u2014 including to rioters \u2014 from a $1.776B fund for alleged victims of politically motivated prosecutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOfficers who defended Capitol from rioters sue to block payouts from $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=551\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Officers who defended Capitol from rioters sue to block payouts from $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 sue to stop any payouts \u2014 including to rioters \u2014 from a $1.776B fund for alleged victims of politically motivated prosecutions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=551\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T19:03:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"Officers who defended Capitol from rioters sue to block payouts from $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T19:03:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551\"},\"wordCount\":505,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/91a990bf072583dca83f20e6fbd07c99.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"National News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551\",\"name\":\"Officers who defended Capitol from rioters sue to block payouts from $1.8B \u2018anti-weaponization\u2019 fund - Arizona Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/91a990bf072583dca83f20e6fbd07c99.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T19:03:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=551#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/91a990bf072583dca83f20e6fbd07c99.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/91a990bf072583dca83f20e6fbd07c99.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":684,\"caption\":\"FILE - Rioters storm the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. 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