The Justice Department on Monday reached a settlement over the leaking of President Donald Trump’s tax filings that called for the creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to potentially give payouts to people, including Jan. 6 rioters, who believe their prosecutions were politically motivated.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department, headed by Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche, broadened the settlement to include a provision that says the IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing audits or investigations of Trump, his family, or businesses regarding conduct up until the date of the settlement.

Acting Attorney General Blanche came under fire for the creation of the fund while testifying Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of the DOJ’s $41.2 billion 2027 budget request.

“That is pure theft of public funds, and rewarding individuals who committed crimes is obscene,” Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said at the hearing. “Every American can see through this illegal, corrupt, self-dealing scheme.”

Ex-FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday said at first he thought the Justice Department’s new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” was a joke. The fund is supposed to compensate anyone who feels they’ve been a victim of a politically-motivated federal prosecution.

“I first thought it was a piece from The Onion because it can’t be serious,” Comey told CNN’s Jake Tapper, referring to the satirical news website that makes up fictitious stories based on current events.

Comey currently faces criminal charges in federal court in North Carolina for threatening the president’s life by posting a photo of sea shells that spell out “86 47.” Prosecutors allege that it was a message for someone to 86, or eliminate, Trump, the 47th president of the U.S.

Comey, who insists the prosecution is politically motivated, has said he knew the sea shell arrangement spelled out something political, but said he didn’t realize anyone would interpret it as him advocating violence. People in the restaurant industry use the term “86” when talking about discarding food or eliminating an item from the menu.

On the new DOJ fund, Comey said:

“It’s to compensate people who’ve been targeted by the Justice Department for, they say, personal, political or ideological reasons. So, I’m guessing I’ll be in line. I hope I’ll be ahead of those who savagely beat police officers and sacked the Capitol.”

“I’ve talked to my lawyers, but it certainly sounds intended for someone like me.”

The fund is not exclusively for any particular period, but it was created with the thought of compensating those who feel they were wronged during the Biden administration.

During a tense exchange Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche assured Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen that the Department of Justice won’t recommend that Jeffrey Epstein’s pal Ghislaine Maxwell be pardoned by President Trump.

“Yes, I can commit to that, of course,” Blanche said, minutes after Van Hollen criticized him for spending two days interviewing Maxwell, who was then transferred to a cushier prison. She is serving a 20-year sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse minors.

Under law, even if the attorney general is against a pardon, the president can grant one.

Blanche appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee in support of the DOJ’s $41.2 billion 2027 budget request.

Van Hollen, who also criticized Blanche for “gross political interference” and acting as Trump’s personal attorney, pressed him on whether Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police would be eligible to get benefits from a new $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” the administration created Monday for those who believe they’ve been victims of a politically biased justice system, particularly during the Biden administration.

“Anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were victims of weaponization,” Blanche said.

Vice President J.D. Vance, during a White House briefing, echoed similar sentiments.

“I don’t rule things out categorically when I know nothing about a person’s individual circumstances,” Vance said, according to The New York Times.

By Steve Neavling

An ICE agent was charged Monday in the January shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis, a case that drew protests during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Christian J. Castro, 52, was charged with four felony counts of second-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime, The New York Times reports. Prosecutors accused Castro of shooting Julio C. Sosa-Celis in the leg after a chase on Jan. 14.

“His federal badge does not make him immune from state charges for his criminal conduct in Minnesota,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said.

ICE officials called the prosecution “unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt,” but did not defend the agents’ actions that night. The agency said federal prosecutors are investigating whether officers lied under oath.

“Upon conclusion of the investigation, the officers may face disciplinary action, including termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution,” ICE said.

State investigators said their probe was slowed because federal agencies refused to provide key information, including the names of the agents involved in the chase. Sosa-Celis was one of three people shot by federal agents during the winter crackdown in Minnesota. Agents also shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

By Steve Neavling

The Trump administration on Monday announced a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claim they were unfairly investigated or prosecuted for political reasons, a move Democrats and government watchdogs blasted as corrupt and unconstitutional, the Associated Press reports.

The $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is part of a settlement resolving President Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The fund would allow people who say they were targeted by the Biden administration or other federal officials to seek payouts.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called it “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.” In a statement, Blanche said, “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again.”

Democrats are urging a judge to block the fund, arguing it would steer taxpayer money to Trump allies and invite baseless claims of political persecution. Nearly 100 House Democrats signed onto a legal brief opposing the settlement.

“This is one of the single most corrupt acts in American history,” Donald Sherman, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said in a statement.

The fund marks another effort by the administration to reward Trump supporters and allies who have claimed they were mistreated by law enforcement. Since returning to office, Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while his Justice Department has approved payouts tied to the Trump-Russia investigation and pursued some of the president’s perceived opponents.

By Steve Neavling

A former prison guard who was on duty the night Jeffrey Epstein died is expected to be questioned Monday by the House Oversight Committee as lawmakers continue to examine the circumstances surrounding his 2019 death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, ABC News reports.

Tova Noel is believed to be the last person to see Epstein before his death, which the New York medical examiner ruled a suicide. But failures at the jail, including missed checks on Epstein, have long fueled questions and conspiracy theories.

Prosecutors accused Noel and another guard of browsing the internet instead of conducting required inmate counts, then falsifying records to make it appear they had done the checks. Both later reached agreements with prosecutors that led to the charges being dropped.

The Justice Department’s recent release of Epstein-related files has renewed attention on Noel. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said lawmakers called her to testify because some members “aren’t confident 100% that Epstein’s death was by suicide.”

He told Fox News in March, “No one’s accusing her of any wrongdoing, but we have a lot of questions about Epstein.”

The records show Noel received $12,000 in cash deposits between April 2018 and July 2019, though investigators reviewed her bank records and found no evidence of a bribe. DOJ documents also show Noel searched the internet for Epstein the night he died, including “latest on Epstein in jail,” though she later told the inspector general she did not remember searching for him and may have read an article about him. A 2021 sworn interview also shows Noel denied giving Epstein extra linen that could have been used to make a noose.

By Steve Neavling

Former FBI Director James Comey on Sunday criticized Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for publicly discussing the federal prosecution against him, saying court rules prevent him from responding to the allegations.

“I don’t talk about the case because the federal court rules require you not. I would urge the acting attorney general to bone up on the rules,” Comey said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Comey was indicted on two counts after prosecutors alleged that an Instagram photo of seashells arranged to read “86 47” amounted to a threat against President Trump. Blanche told NBC earlier this month that the case was broader than the post.

“This is not just about a single Instagram post,” Blanche said. “This is about a body of evidence that the grand jury collected over a series of about 11 months.”

Comey declined to respond directly to Blanche’s comments, saying the acting attorney general should not be discussing the prosecution.

“I don’t want to comment on it because then someone will say I’m commenting on the case. He ought not to be talking about it, I can’t talk about it,” Comey said. “That’s why we have a judicial process in a courtroom.”

The Justice Department also previously charged Comey with making false statements and obstruction tied to his 2020 Senate testimony, but a judge threw out the case after finding that former U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed.

Comey, who has said the prosecutions are political retribution, defended his use of Instagram, saying, “I’m a private citizen. Again, I’m not going to talk about that particular post, but I use Instagram the way any awkward, nerdy dad would.”

By Steve Neavling

Mike Banks, the Border Patrol chief who helped drive President Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown and a major militarization of the southern border, abruptly resigned Thursday, the Guardian reports.

Banks told Fox News that “it’s just time” to step down.

“I feel like I got the ship back on course from the least secure, most disastrous, most chaotic border to the most secure border this country has ever seen,” Banks said.

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott praised Banks and congratulated him on his “second retirement” after returning to the agency during “one of the most challenging periods for border security.” Scott said that “during his time as chief, the border was transformed from chaos to the most secure border ever recorded. We wish him and his family well.”

Banks’s resignation comes weeks after the Washington Examiner reported that six current and former Border Patrol employees accused him of regularly paying for sex with prostitutes during trips to Colombia and Thailand over more than a decade and bragging about it to colleagues. CBP described the matter as “closed” last month, and a spokesperson told the Examiner the allegations “date back more than a decade and were reviewed years ago.” The agency declined to comment on the allegations when contacted by the Guardian on Thursday.

Banks, who took over the agency in early 2025, oversaw a sharp expansion of prosecutions for unlawful border crossings, closer coordination between Border Patrol and ICE and broader interior enforcement operations across the country. He also helped launch so-called national defense areas along the southern border, where large stretches of federal land were designated as military zones and transferred to Army jurisdiction. By mid-2025, the zones covered nearly a third of the U.S.-Mexico border and were patrolled by at least 7,600 troops.

By Steve Neavling

FBI Director Kash Patel took part in a “VIP snorkel” around the USS Arizona during a previously undisclosed return trip to Hawaii last summer, according to government emails obtained by the Associated Press.

The FBI publicly described Patel’s earlier visit to Hawaii as official business, noting his tour of the bureau’s Honolulu field office and meetings with local law enforcement. The FBI did not mention that Patel later returned to Hawaii for two days and participated in a military-coordinated snorkel around the USS Arizona, where more than 900 sailors and Marines are entombed.

The excursion has added to concerns about Patel’s use of government resources and travel that has mixed official duties with leisure.

“It fits a pattern of Director Patel getting tangled up in unseemly distractions — this time at a site commemorating the second deadliest attack in U.S. history — instead of staying laser-focused on keeping Americans safe,” said Stacey Young, who founded Justice Connection, a network of former federal prosecutors and agents who advocate for the Justice Department’s independence.

Snorkeling and diving are generally prohibited around the USS Arizona, a military cemetery and one of the country’s most sacred memorials. Exceptions have been made for National Park Service crews and marine archaeologists who inspect the wreck, as well as for the interment of Arizona survivors who wanted to be laid to rest with their former shipmates.

Since at least the Obama administration, the Navy and National Park Service have quietly allowed some dignitaries and officials connected to the memorial’s management to swim at the site, the AP reported. The Navy and park service declined to identify who has been permitted to take part in such outings. Patel also has drawn scrutiny for his travel, including a trip to the Winter Olympics in Milan, where video showed him celebrating with the U.S. men’s hockey team after its gold medal win.

By Steve Neavling

As President Trump’s immigration crackdown fuels a boom in private detention contracts, the agency carrying it out is turning to a former GEO Group executive to lead ICE on an acting basis, The Washington Post reports.

David Venturella will replace Todd Lyons, who is stepping down at the end of the month, the Department of Homeland Security said. Venturella left GEO Group in early 2023 and has since worked at ICE overseeing the division that handles detention contracts, members of Congress wrote in a public letter earlier this year.

At GEO, Venturella held several roles, including executive vice president overseeing corporate development, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The company houses about one-third of ICE detainees and has benefited from Trump’s mass deportation push, including contracts to reopen three shuttered facilities. One of those deals was a $1 billion, 15-year contract for a detention center in Newark, New Jersey.

“Last year was the most successful period for new business wins in our company’s history,” GEO CEO George Zoley said during an earnings call last week.

The company owns and operates 23 ICE detention facilities with about 26,000 available beds and also has contracts tied to ICE air transportation and electronic monitoring.

Immigrant rights advocates criticized the appointment. Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network, called it a “classic example of the revolving door phenomena” and warned that “Venturella’s intimate knowledge of ICE will likely yield another spike of ICE detention facility openings.”

Venturella takes over as public support has weakened for Trump’s immigration crackdown, which has led to raids in cities across the country, clashes with protesters and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.