Federal judge indefinitely blocks Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization fund’

Justice DepartmentFederal judge indefinitely blocks Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization fund’ The judge said that she’s concerned if the fund isn’t really dead that it might come back in a different form. Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00A federal judge indefinitely blocked the Trump administration's "anti-weponization fund" citing frustration that none of the Justice Department's statements declaring it over had been made under "penalty of perjury." Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA / Bloomberg via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 12, 2026, 12:45 PM EDTBy Gary Grumbach, Ryan J. Reilly and Alexandra MarquezA federal judge in Virginia on Friday extended her block on the Trump administration’s “anti-weaponization fund”, frustrated that the Department of Justice has not said under the penalty of perjury whether the fund is truly dead.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said “none of those statements” from Blanche or the president, “have been made under the penalty of perjury.”Earlier this month, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told House lawmakers, “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period,” but the next day, President Donald Trump told reporters, “I don’t know,” when asked whether the fund was on hold or eliminated.Brinkema also drilled down on Justice Department attorney Andrew Block, who has not answered why the Department of Justice has not formally rescinded its memo related to the creation of the “anti-weaponization fund.”“I don’t have the ability to speak directly to the attorney general,” Block said.“I can not believe given the significance you don’t have an answer,” Brinkema shot back. She added “there’s a huge gap in the record” if we don’t have an answer to that question.The ongoing lawsuit stems from the Trump administration’s announcement last month that it planned to set up a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization...