Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche rescinds anti-weaponization fund, leaving intact immunity order for Trump and family

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a Sunday-night memo rescinding a Justice Department plan to establish a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, according to a report by The Hill published Monday. The same memo also left intact another key element of the administration’s approach to accountability for past conduct involving President Donald Trump, his adult children, and their businesses.

The Hill reported that Blanche’s memo was signed the day after the fund was created, and that the rescission received less attention than the administration’s parallel immunity framework. The report said the immunity provision continues to bar (or limit) investigations tied to past conduct involving Trump and members of his family included in the order.

The Hill’s account characterized the surviving directive as an order offering broad immunity to President Donald Trump, his adult children, and their businesses. The report said the order’s continued effect is tied to the immunity terms remaining in place even after the “anti-weaponization” fund was withdrawn.

The fund in question was described by The Hill as an “anti-weaponization” mechanism, created in proximity to the issuance of Blanche’s memo. The Sunday-night action formally rescinded the fund, but the report indicated the administration’s immunity-related structure remained a central feature of the Department’s guidance.

The Hill did not describe a new timeline for replacing the rescinded fund, nor did it indicate that the immunity order has been withdrawn as of the memo’s publication. The practical effect described in the report is that the immunity-related limits on investigative activity remain operative for the categories of people and entities covered by the order.

The administration’s action comes as legal disputes over the scope of executive power and the ability of the Justice Department to investigate sitting or former presidents have been the subject of extensive litigation and public debate. In this instance, the focus is on internal Justice Department directives and how they may continue to shape investigative decisions involving the President and related parties.

Blanche’s memo, as described by The Hill, therefore reflects a narrow change in the Department’s framework, reversing one element tied to the “anti-weaponization” fund while preserving another element that is specifically aimed at limiting inquiry into past conduct for the President and the family members and businesses covered by the immunity order.