DOJ declines to file sworn statement ending $1.8 B fund

The Trump administration on Friday refused a federal judge's order to submit a sworn declaration stating that a proposed $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund is definitively terminated, citing separation of powers concerns. The Department of Justice, in a filing to U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, argued that repeated public assurances from senior officials that the fund is not proceeding are sufficient and that compelling testimony from cabinet-level officials is unnecessary and constitutionally problematic.

Judge Brinkema had issued the order on June 12, granting a preliminary injunction that blocks the Justice Department from taking any action to create or operate the fund. She directed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward to file declarations under penalty of perjury by June 19, stating the fund would not proceed "in any manner, or under any name." She indicated such declarations could lead to the dismissal of the lawsuit challenging the fund.

In its response, the Justice Department declined to provide the sworn statements. Government lawyers attached a copy of Blanche's recent...