Five years ago, a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol and assaulted police officers in an attempt to stop the peaceful certification of the 2020 presidential election. Today, some of those individuals are among those most likely to profit from the Trump administration’s new $1.8 billion settlement fund, aimed at compensating the victims of a “weaponized” government in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack.

The president and some 1,500 rioters he pardoned upon his return to the White House in 2025 are claiming the same grievance: that they were politically persecuted at the hands of former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department.

The creation of the “anti-weaponization” fund enables those rioters, along with a host of Trump allies, to apply for taxpayer-funded payouts as compensation for their time in the criminal justice system.

And they are eager to get in line.

“This just changed EVERYTHING for January 6 defendants,” Tommy Tatum, who was arrested on felony charges for interfering with a police officer while storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, wrote in a post on X.

Trump’s Department of Justice established the fund as part of a settlement that resolved the president’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The fund, every penny of which comes from taxpayer dollars, establishes a “lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization” to “seek redress,” according to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Although the details of the application process, including who is eligible to apply and the amount of money they may receive, remain vague, Jan. 6 rioters and their lawyers are already celebrating.

Enrique Tarrio, the pardoned Proud Boys leader who was originally convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in planning and orchestrating the Capitol attack, said he would seek a payout shortly after the fund was announced.

Tarrio has long said he was wrongfully prosecuted because he was not present at the Capitol building on Jan. 6, but was found guilty over his role in orchestrating the movements of hundreds of Proud Boys who led the Capitol riots that day.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and experts in political extremism have sounded alarm bells over the potential the fund holds to legitimize claims like Tarrio’s.

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Sydney Carruth

Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.