The top lawyer at the Treasury Department stepped down on Monday in the wake of the creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that could soon make payments to President Trump’s political allies, according to three people familiar with the move.
Brian Morrissey, the Treasury’s general counsel, left the position seven months after the Senate confirmed him to it and just hours after the Trump administration announced the fund on Monday.
Mr. Morrissey did not respond to requests for comment. The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department created the fund to disburse payments to people who claim that the Biden administration improperly targeted them — a population that includes supporters of Mr. Trump and former members of his staff. Among them are people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The Treasury Department is responsible for depositing $1.776 billion into an account that will be controlled by a group of people selected by the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, according to the terms of the fund released on Monday. That money will come from the Judgment Fund, an uncapped pot of money that is available for the federal government to pay out settlement claims without needing congressional approval.
The Justice Department is creating the anti-weaponization fund as part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit that Mr. Trump brought against the Internal Revenue Service, which falls under the umbrella of the Treasury Department. In his suit, Mr. Trump accused the I.R.S. of not doing enough to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of his tax information during his first term. The president dropped the suit on Monday under scrutiny from a judge who questioned whether Mr. Trump could legally sue a government agency he controls.
Andrew Duehren covers tax policy for The Times from Washington.
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