Trump Defends Using Taxpayer Money for January 6 Defendants, Says Rioters Were 'Horribly Treated'

President Trump defended the Justice Department's newly announced $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" on Monday, arguing that people prosecuted after the January 6 Capitol attack had been "horribly treated" and deserved compensation for legal costs and other damages.

Asked why taxpayers should fund payments connected to January 6 defendants, Trump said the initiative had been "very well received" while also claiming he was not directly involved in creating it.

"I know very little about it. I wasn't involved in the whole creation of it and the negotiation," Trump told reporters. "But this is reimbursing people that were horribly treated. Horribly treated. It's anti-weaponization."

Trump added that many defendants had been "imprisoned wrongly," gone bankrupt and seen their "lives destroyed." He described the prosecutions tied to the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack as evidence of a "corrupt" justice system and said those affected were being reimbursed for "legal fees and the other things that they had to suffer."

The Justice Department formally announced the fund earlier Monday as part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit brought by Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of the president's tax returns.

According to the department, the fund will establish a process for people who claim they were victims of "weaponization and lawfare" to seek monetary relief or formal apologies. The department said the fund would be financed through the Treasury Department's Judgment Fund, which is traditionally used to settle lawsuits against the federal government.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said "the machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American," while Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter said improper targeting for "political, personal, or ideological reasons" should not be tolerated.

The announcement immediately drew criticism from Democrats and legal advocacy groups, particularly over the possibility that January 6 defendants and Trump allies could receive taxpayer-funded payouts. Congressman James R. Walkinshaw called the fund "corruption in plain sight," accusing Trump of "using the machinery of government to reward political loyalists with taxpayer money."

The Intercept went further, describing the initiative as a "slush fund" for Trump allies and noting concerns from critics that the program could operate with limited congressional oversight. The outlet reported that the money would be distributed by a commission appointed by the attorney general and argued that beneficiaries could include other Trump allies claiming they were targeted under the Biden administration