New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker is accusing President Donald Trump of using the Anti-Weaponization Fund to “pay off his political cronies and criminals.”
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Led by Mayor Justin Elicker, the City of New Haven has joined another lawsuit against the administration of President Donald Trump.
The city is partnering with a coalition of organizations and people who claim to have been harmed by the Trump Administration’s $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
The fund was created by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a settlement agreement resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over its unauthorized leak of his tax returns.
The coalition that Elicker and New Haven joined Friday claims the fund allows the Trump Administration to distribute taxpayer money with minimal oversight, transparency or judicial involvement.
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Members of the coalition feel this creates a politically discriminatory process that excludes many of them individually.
Other coalition members include former career Assistant U.S. Attorney and Jan. 6 prosecutor Andrew Floyd, Professor John Caravello, the National Abortion Federation and the Common Cause group.
Elicker said in a release on Friday that he joined the coalition because New Haven residents work too hard to see their federal tax dollars go into an “unregulated political slush fund.”
Elicker noted further that the Trump Administration is using the money to “pay off [Trump’s] political cronies and criminals.”
The mayor even expressed that Trump is weaponizing every part of the federal government to advance his personal interests and those of his supporters.
“The residents of New Haven want their hard-earned tax dollars to be used to fund critical public safety initiatives and infrastructure projects – like the ones the Trump Administration is attempting to illegally terminate. As we have in the past, New Haven will continue to fight for our residents and stand up for the rule of law,” Elicker said.
The complaint filed by the coalition notes that the plaintiffs have been targeted by the Trump Administration through civil litigation and federal funding terminations, punishing them for having opposite political views.
The coalition asks the court to block implementation of the fund and prevent the administration from transferring or distributing any money while the litigation is ongoing.
The plaintiffs argue that the only way to end the negative effects of the Anti-Weaponization Fund is by dissolving it and returning the money to the Judgement Fund, which can only be used to settle imminent litigation of viable lawsuits. This would exclude the claims of the Trump Administration.
As of Friday, New Haven has joined six lawsuits against the Trump Administration, as well as 24 other amicus briefs.
The city most recently joined an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to support access to the abortion drug mifepristone.
The municipality hopes to overturn an appeals curt ruling that would ban mail delivery and pharmacy available of the drug across the country.
Dalton Zbierski is a story desk editor and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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