Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has denounced a new $1.8 billion settlement fund established by the Trump administration, calling it "deeply offensive" and urging the administration to abandon it. The fund, created to resolve President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, could potentially be used to compensate participants of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Pence's Strong Criticism
Speaking on NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday, Pence stated, "I think that the weaponization fund, it's a bad idea from the start and I would encourage the administration just to drop it. It's deeply offensive to me that you could have a fund that could even possibly compensate people who assaulted police officers or vandalized the Capitol on January 6th."
Pence, who served as vice president during Trump's first term, was presiding over the certification of the 2020 election results when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Rioters erected a scaffold and threatened to hang Pence, forcing him and his family to hide during the attack.
Details of the Settlement Fund
The Justice Department announced that the fund would be used to compensate claims alleging political motivation in legal cases, as part of a settlement resolving Trump's $10 billion lawsuit over the 2019 disclosure of his tax records. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump, confirmed that the president himself would not receive any money from the fund.
However, the fund has sparked widespread criticism, particularly after administration officials indicated it could be used to pay January 6 rioters who assaulted law enforcement officers. Pence joins a growing number of Republicans who have condemned the deal as improper.
Legal Challenges Emerge
The fund is already facing legal hurdles. On Friday, a federal judge in Virginia temporarily blocked the Trump administration from operating the fund while she considers a longer-lasting injunction. Another lawsuit, filed by police officers who responded to the Capitol riots, described the fund as "the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century."
Pence reiterated his stance on CBS's Face the Nation, saying, "In Washington, we don't need slush funds to settle cases. The Justice Department has the ability to settle cases, but let's get rid of this fund." He emphasized that settlements for individual cases where rights have been violated are appropriate, but a broad fund like this is not.
The controversy continues to escalate as more voices join the opposition, raising questions about the fund's legality and ethical implications.
