Washington — Former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that he hopes the Trump administration will drop its new “anti-weaponization fund” that has sparked pushback on Capitol Hill and divided Republicans.
“The idea of creating a fund that could compensate people who assaulted police officers and vandalized the Capitol that day is totally unacceptable,” Pence said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
The $1.776 billion fund, which aims to provide taxpayer-funded payouts to people who allege the legal system has been “weaponized” against them, was established as part of a settlement of a suit by President Trump against the IRS. But the fund has divided Republicans, especially as some Trump allies, including those charged for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, have said they are eager to submit claims.
The fund was the topic of a heated conference meeting among Senate Republicans earlier this month, and forced GOP leaders to scrap plans to fund immigration enforcement. On Sunday, Pence said he’s been “heartened by the number of Republicans in the Senate who have spoken out against it.”
“My hope is the administration will drop it, drop the idea entirely,” he said.
The former vice president was a target of the rioters at the Capitol as he was set to certify President Joe Biden‘s victory after Congress counted the electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2021. He said Sunday that “people that assaulted police officers on Jan. 6, and vandalized our Capitol should not get one dime of taxpayer money from that fund or anywhere else.”
Senate Republicans have sought answers on how the fund will operate and who might receive payments from it, along with possible guardrails to prevent people who assaulted law enforcement from being compensated.
Pence emphasized that the Justice Department “can settle these issues where people have had their rights trampled on, and ought to do that.” He added, “I welcome that settlement greatly.”
On Friday, a federal judge temporarily barred the Justice Department from moving forward with work on the fund. The DOJ has expressed confidence in the fund’s legality amid a handful of challenges to its implementation.
Asked about the Jan. 6 attack more broadly, Pence said he’s “certainly seen evidence” that the administration is white washing that day, saying he was “offended on the anniversary of Jan. 6 when the White House put out a timeline that literally blamed Capitol Hill police for the riot that took place that day.”
“Look, I’m very confident of the judgment of history in the years ahead, about our role, about all the Republicans and Democrats who returned that day after Capitol Police secured the Capitol, and we all did our duty under the Constitution,” Pence said. “There’s clearly been an effort by some to rewrite that history, but I don’t expect it’ll work.”
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