Thom Tillis, Michael Whatley take different stances on ‘anti-weaponization’ fund
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sen. Thom Tillis will file an amendment to block a $1.776 million DOJ reimbursement fund.
- Michael Whatley said he would side with Trump on the fund when asked at an event.
- Backlash over the fund caused the Senate to leave without passing the reconciliation bill.
Sen. Thom Tillis plans to ensure a $1.8 billion fund to reimburse people who feel they were targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice can never exist.
The Republican looking to replace Tillis in the U.S. Senate is supportive of the fund.
“The American people deserve a justice system that protects our communities and locks up violent criminals, not one weaponized for political lawfare,” a spokesperson for Michael Whatley’s U.S. Senate campaign said.
Whatley, a Gaston County resident, chaired the Republican National Committee and was handpicked by President Donald Trump to replace Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, after Tillis and Trump got into a public disagreement over Medicaid funding last summer.
The president and Tillis find themselves at odds again after the Department of Justice agreed to create a $1.776 million fund for those who believe they were politically prosecuted, if Trump would drop a lawsuit against his administration’s IRS for leaking his tax returns. The agreement also ensures that Trump, his family and his businesses could not be investigated for past tax returns.
In response to the fund, Tillis confirmed to McClatchy Wednesday morning he plans to file an amendment that would block the fund’s creation.
Jan. 6 insurrection
The backlash to the fund’s creation was immediate and bipartisan.
Many believe the fund was created to pay people charged and convicted of crimes related to Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters raided the U.S. Capitol to stop President Joe Biden’s election certification. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not deny that when questioned by senators in a hearing last month.
The insurrection is linked to the deaths of four law enforcement officers and the injuries of 173 other first responders.
More than 1,500 people, including Trump, were charged for their actions that day.
Republican response
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who faced death threats during the insurrection, called the fund “deeply offensive,” in an interview with NBC News.
Senate Leader John Thune came out against it.
Sen. Mitch McConnell called it “morally wrong.”
Tillis called it “a payout pot for punks” on CNN.
The consternation led the Senate to leave Washington two weeks ago without passing an expected reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement. And when lawmakers returned this week, senators signaled they still lacked the votes because of the fund.
Congressional block
From the Senate floor Tuesday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced he would propose an amendment to the reconciliation bill to block the fund and overturn the agreement to prevent investigations of Trump.
“Trump doesn’t get to make off with at least $100 billion his family owes on taxes, and he doesn’t get to use your tax dollars to pay off the MAGA right,” Schumer said. “Not on our watch. The only way to ensure his $2 billion tax-funded giveaway never sees the light of day is to abolish it by law, not to trust the word of the corrupt president who stands to benefit the most from it.”
And even after Blanche appeared before a House Committee Tuesday afternoon and confirmed to lawmakers that the fund was “not moving forward ever,” Tillis said he was still committed to introducing his amendment.
Tillis’ opposition to the fund led Trump to attack him on social media, very similarly to last summer, before Trump tapped Whatley to run in Tillis’ place.
Whatley’s opinion
Whatley first commented on the fund May 20 after being approached at an event by a campaign a woman who told Whatley, “I’m very happy that President Trump has started this fund for the people who were persecuted by Biden on Jan. 6.”
McClatchy obtained a transcript and audio of the interaction.
The woman then asked Whatley if he would be on Trump’s side of the issue.
“Well, I will be because I have been with him since 2015,” Whatley said .
The woman followed up asking if that means Whatley thought the fund was good.
“Yeah,” Whatley said. “We’ll kind of see how they implement it and what they’re going to do with it, but you know, I mean they overstretched, right, they did ridiculous persecution.”
In a lengthier statement to McClatchy this week, Whatley’s spokesperson, DJ Griffin, made the comments about “political lawfare,” then pivoted to criticism of the record of his Democratic opponent, former Gov. Roy Cooper.
