A Republican lawyer and close ally of Ed Martin, the U.S. pardon attorney, has submitted a request to the Justice Department to join a panel that will dispense over $1.7 billion to people who claim they were victims of legal “weaponization,” according to a letter obtained by CBS News.
On Wednesday evening, lawyer Mike Howell said in a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that he wished to “declare my candidacy for one of the five member positions on the anti-weaponization fund.”
Blanche is responsible for appointing the members of the commission overseeing the fund, according to a memo he signed this week. The fund was announced Monday as part of the DOJ’s settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit that President Trump filed earlier this year against the Internal Revenue Service for the leak of his tax returns.
“I have testified before the House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and have appeared on national television and radio to lay out the cases of ordinary Americans targeted by federal law enforcement for their political views, their faith, and their exercise of constitutionally protected rights,” Howell wrote in the application letter — adding that he has “written, sued, defended, and advocated every single day to this end” and is “not planning on stopping any time soon.”
If Howell is chosen, it would place him in a powerful position to oversee payments to people who submit claims to the fund, which the DOJ said will operate through the end of 2028.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Howell is a close ally of Martin, the pardon attorney at the Justice Department who advocated for Mr. Trump’s pardons or commutations for more than 1,500 people who were charged or convicted for their role in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
From outside the government, Howell ran Martin’s Senate confirmation process to be U.S. attorney for D.C., a job Martin held on an interim basis but failed to secure full-time.
Howell, who is based in Washington, D.C., is the president of a conservative group called the Oversight Project that investigates alleged weaponization of government. He is also a visiting fellow in the border security and immigration center at the Heritage Foundation.
“The anti-weaponization fund is a historic step by President Trump and Acting Attorney General Blanche,” Howell said in a statement to CBS News, adding that he is ready “to make sure it is a success.”
The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Howell’s letter is the first known request to the DOJ to serve on the commission. CNN first reported on Tuesday that the first request for compensation was made by Michael Caputo, a former Trump adviser and administration official. Caputo asked for $2.7 million in “restitution and reimbursement,” arguing he was targeted by the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The fund’s announcement appears to be the latest step Mr. Trump has taken to carry out retribution for his supporters — beginning with the president’s clemency for Jan. 6 defendants. There is a loose criteria outlined in the DOJ’s settlement agreement for who may apply to receive some of the over $1.7 billion, which said the commission would consider the “totality of the circumstances.”
The DOJ said in a press release about the fund that there are “no partisan requirements to file a claim,” though Capitol riot defendants and other MAGA allies are already considering applying for relief, CBS News reported this week.
In his letter to Blanche, Howell said that, if selected for the panel, “one of my very first actions will be organizing a national gathering of the thousands of victims of weaponization, held in Washington, D.C.”
“These victims will include those who had to pay legal fees because of their support for President Trump, those who were sent to prison, including those involved with January 6th, 2021,” the letter read. “At this gathering, victims will be offered the time and space to share their stories.”
More from CBS News
Go deeper with The Free Press
