Acting AG insists rioter violence will be considered by new anti-weaponization fund commission

By Paula Reid, Casey Gannon, Devan Cole, CNN

(CNN) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche made clear Wednesday that the conduct of January 6, 2021, rioters who attacked law enforcement will be factored when the soon-to-be-set-up commission reviews applications to the anti-weaponization fund.

“One of the factors the commissioners have to consider is what the claimant did — the claimant’s conduct,” Blanche told CNN’s Paula Reid in an interview Wednesday. “The claimant would have to say, ‘I assaulted a cop and I want money.’”

“Whether the commissioners will give that person money – that claimant – it’s up to them. But that’s one of the factors they have to consider,” he continued, adding that Trump “does not stand for assaulting law enforcement.”

Blanche told CNN, said he couldn’t fully rule out the possibility that someone who was violent toward officers, saying it was up to the commissioners.

“So, whether the commissioners will give that person money, that claimant, it’s up to them,” he said.

The comments come as Democrats and others have raised concerns that individuals who took part in the attack on January 6 will have broad access to the massive pot of taxpayer dollars if they simply show they were prosecuted by the Justice Department in the past.

Some of those people — including ones who acted violently that day — have already been seeking millions from the government, and CNN reported earlier Wednesday that many of them were looking to submit claims to the fund whenever possible.

The comments from Blanche represent the Justice Department’s clearest explanation thus far of how the application process for the fund would work.

The fund will be run by a commission whose members are chosen by Trump’s attorney general and who can be fired by the president at any time. One of the five members will be chosen “in consultation” with Congress, though it’s unclear what the counsel will look like or how closely the attorney general will adhere to it. The members won’t be paid for their service.

Blanche said in his interview with CNN that he didn’t think “you have to be wealthy” to serve in the unpaid role and expressed optimism that he’ll find suitable people to be on the commission.

“I think that there’s a lot of professions — really smart people in professions — that can handle work like this,” he said. “They’re going to be smart people. They’re going to be people that understand the political sensitivities that you’re raising.”

“We’ve had a bunch of people apply since we announced this, but that’s something that when we’re ready to announce who the commissioners are, we will let you know,” he added.

The attorney general also attempted to dispel any concern that claimants may receive exorbitantly high payouts from the fund, saying that “This is not a ‘you’re going to get rich’ process.”

“There’s claims processes set up all the time when there’s large numbers of potential victims that that are going to be compensated,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that that all those victims get rich because there’s a claims process put up. It just means that there’s money that’s set aside.”

This story was updated with additional reporting.

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