DOJ rebuffs judge’s request for Blanche to declare in court that anti-weaponization fund is dead | CNN Politics

The Justice Department is rebuffing a judge’s request that it supply a court declaration from senior administration officials that would confirm that the so-called anti-weaponization fund is not moving forward. In a new court filing Friday, the Justice Department said that the declarations were “unnecessary” and that the judge’s order that the administration file them raises “serious separation of powers concerns.” The case — playing out on Alexandria, Virginia — is one of several legal challenges to the controversial $1.8 billion fund, which arose out of a settlement of a legally dubious lawsuit President Donald Trump filed against the IRS. It would have compensated people who claimed to have been victims of government “weaponization” under prior administrations, prompting allegations that it would operate as a slush fund for Trump’s allies. As political opposition and legal hurdles mounted, the administration dropped its plans for the fund, and Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, the judge in the Virginia case, indicated she was inclined to rule the legal dispute in her courtroom as moot. But last week, she requested declarations from acting Attorney General Todd Bala