Sen. Dick Durbin warns DOJ against ‘doling out compensation to rioters’ in new Trump fund

FIRST ON NBC NEWSCapitol riotCapitol riotSen. Dick Durbin warns DOJ against ‘doling out compensation to rioters’ in new Trump fundDurbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, asked acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to provide more details about Trump’s $1.8B “anti-weaponization” fund.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington in March.Nathan Posner / Anadolu via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 20, 2026, 6:30 PM EDT / Updated May 20, 2026, 6:33 PM EDTBy Frank Thorp V and Kyla GuilfoilWASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged the Justice Department Wednesday to reconsider its openness to providing money from the Trump administration’s new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to Jan. 6 rioters who attacked police defending the Capitol.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“The notion of the federal government doling out compensation to rioters who sought to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power and violently assaulted members of the United States Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department on January 6, 2021 is absurd and offensive,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a letter first shared with NBC News.In congressional testimony Tuesday, Blanche did not rule out the possibility that Jan. 6 defendants convicted of violent offenses against police during the attack on the Capitol could receive money from the fund.In his letter, Durbin demanded transparency about who is eligible to receive money from the pool. He asked that the Justice Department hand over documents, communications and materials that detail the eligibility requirements for the fund by May 28, including the specific considerations made for people who participated in the Jan. 6 riot.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.Win McNamee /...