Thomas Tillis

“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined,” he wrote. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win.”

The fund was created as a result of a settlement Trump reached with the Internal Revenue Service over the illegal leaking of his tax records. The agreement originally included a proposal to establish a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate people who believed they were targeted for political reasons, including some Jan. 6 rioters, and gave the president immunity from tax audits. It immediately faced criticism from both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Eventually, the administration walked it back and said they wouldn’t pursue the fund.

Trump accused Cornyn of reversing his position on the fund only after the president endorsed Cornyn’s successful Republican primary challenger, Ken Paxton.

“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called ‘Fund’ … until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas,” Trump wrote. Trump also said Cornyn had previously condemned the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago as an example of the government’s “weaponization.”

The attack comes as Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) continue to withhold support for Blanche’s nomination, demanding written assurances that the Justice Department has abandoned key provisions of the controversial May settlement.

Blanche, who has served as acting attorney general since April, testified that the anti-weaponization fund had been scrapped and that the settlement’s tax provisions were far narrower than critics alleged. But Cornyn has insisted those commitments be put in writing before moving forward with the nomination.

SENATE PANEL DELAYS CRITICAL VOTE TO ADVANCE BLANCHE ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINATION

As a pivotal vote on the Senate judiciary committee, Cornyn has been leading negotiations with the Justice Department to revise the settlement, with Tillis, who is retiring, backing his effort. The committee delayed a vote on Blanche’s nomination Wednesday as the talks continued, with Justice Department officials sending revised language to Cornyn’s office that night.