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Justice Department Opens $1.78B Compensation Fund With Broad Eligibility Criteria

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that virtually anyone could apply for payments from a new $1.78 billion Justice Department fund established to compensate individuals who claim they were politically targeted during the previous administration.

Blanche declined to commit to excluding Trump campaign donors or people convicted of assaulting police officers from eligibility during a Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing.

"Anybody in this country can apply," Blanche said, adding that a commission would establish eligibility rules.

The fund was created as part of a settlement agreement in which President Trump withdrew a $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service regarding leaked tax returns.

Democrats on the panel criticized the arrangement as an abuse of executive power. Blanche also would not commit that Trump family members would be excluded from receiving direct payments.