Mike Johnson

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday refused to comment on whether Jan. 6 protesters will be eligible to receive money from the Trump administration's new anti-weaponization fund.

During a House leadership press conference, Johnson said it was too early to comment on whether individuals prosecuted after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach could apply for compensation through the newly created $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund," established as part of a settlement involving President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the IRS.

"We don’t know any of the details of that settlement fund," Johnson told reporters, adding he would defer to what Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers a day earlier.

"He [Blanche] said they are setting up a fund to compensate all Americans who have been the subject, the target, of lawfare or weaponization of the federal government. Again, that's not a partisan proposition either. Everybody should support that."

Johnson added, "There's many details to be filled out on that, and I'm not going to comment on it until that."

The speaker's comments followed contentious Senate testimony Tuesday from Blanche, who defended the creation of the fund while refusing to explicitly bar Jan. 6 defendants, including those convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers, from applying for relief.

"As was made plain yesterday, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were victims," Blanche told lawmakers during the hearing.

The Department of Justice announced Monday that the fund was created as part of a settlement agreement resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his confidential tax returns.

Under the agreement, Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization will receive no direct financial payment.

Instead, the administration established the fund to provide compensation and formal apologies to Americans who claim they were targeted by government "weaponization" or politically motivated lawfare.

"The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American," Blanche said in the DOJ release. "It is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done."

The fund will be overseen by a five-member commission appointed largely by the attorney general.

Claims can result in monetary awards or formal apologies, with quarterly reports submitted to the DOJ.

Democrats blasted the arrangement as a potential political "slush fund" for Trump allies and Jan. 6 defendants.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., pressed Blanche during the hearing over whether violent offenders would be excluded.

"Will individuals who assaulted Capitol Hill police officers be eligible for this fund?" Van Hollen asked.

Blanche responded that eligibility decisions would ultimately be handled by the commission, not directly by the administration.

Republicans, meanwhile, argued the fund addresses years of politically motivated prosecutions and investigations targeting conservatives, Trump associates, pro-life activists, parents at school board meetings, and others swept up in what they describe as weaponized federal law enforcement under previous administrations.

DOJ officials also noted the fund mirrors the structure of the Obama-era Keepseagle settlement fund, which compensated Native American farmers alleging federal discrimination.

Unlike that program, however, any unused money in the new anti-weaponization fund will revert back to the federal government.