Ex-Trump Official Seeks $2.7 Million Payout From President’s $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund

BreakingBusinessEx-Trump Official Seeks $2.7 Million Payout From President’s $1.8 Billion ‘Anti-Weaponization’ FundBySiladitya Ray,Forbes Staff. Siladitya Ray is a New Delhi-based Forbes news team reporter.Follow AuthorMay 20, 2026, 03:47am EDTToplineFormer Trump administration official and political adviser Michael Caputo on Tuesday became the first high-profile figure to make a public claim to a payout from the administration’s controversial new $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization” fund, which critics have argued is a means to enrich the president’s allies.Former Trump campaign aide and administration official Michael Caputo is the first high-profile ally of the president to publicly seek a payout from the fund.Getty ImagesKey FactsCaputo, who served in the Department of Health and Human Services during President Donald Trump’s first term, announced the move on X, alleging that the government’s “machinery” was “politically weaponized” against him and his family from July 2016 to December 2025.The longtime Trump loyalist shared the letter he had sent to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and described himself and his family as “survivors of the illegal Russiagate investigations.”In the letter, Caputo requested “$2.7 million in restitution and reimbursement” from the fund to “help repair what is left of our family,” but noted that “this amount may change” as the costs of the alleged weaponization are “difficult to enumerate.”The former Trump adviser alleged he was in 2016 illegally targeted by the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” probe into potential links between the Trump campaign and Russian efforts to influence the 2016 Presidential election.He also claimed the Biden administration opened another probe into him in 2021 for his One America News documentary, which focused on unsubstantiated allegations of corruption involving then former Vice President Joe Biden and the Ukrainian government.Caputo claimed the second probe lasted till the end of 2025, and both investigat...