June 1, 2026

A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with a fund that opponents fear will be used to pay off the president’s political allies.

Judge Leonie Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia issued a brief order halting the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, and other high-ranking administration officials from taking any further action to create the fund or make payments from it.

The order came in a lawsuit filed by a former federal prosecutor and a California professor. The plaintiffs are represented by the legal advocacy groups Democracy Forward and Common Cause. The lawsuit is part of a flurry of legal challenges against the fund.

The Justice Department on May 18 announced a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that will make payments to individuals who believe they have been wronged by past administrations. The fund came as part of a settlement agreement in a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump over the leaking of his tax return information by a former IRS contractor.

Trump’s settlement agreement provides for the creation of the fund overseen by a board of five members chosen by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney. Trump can fire the members for any reason.

Brinkema, a President Bill Clinton appointee, took no position on the legality of the fund in her order. She wrote that her order is to ensure no money is “irreversibly disbursed” while the plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order is pending.

She also set a hearing for June 12 — likely ensuring the fund will remain blocked for at least the next two weeks.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Andrew Floyd, a former federal Jan. 6 case prosecutor who was fired by the DOJ in June 2025, and Joseph Caravello, a California university professor who was charged with felony assault on a federal officer after protesting an immigration raid last summer. A jury acquitted Caravello in April.

The nine-count lawsuit alleges in part the fund violates the plaintiffs’ First and Fifth Amendment rights, and violates the authority of Congress.

“Since its inception, this fund has been on a collision course with the United States Constitution,” their complaint says.

Trump has written on social media that the fund will help those “who were so badly abused by an evil, corrupt, and weaponized Biden Administration” receive justice.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..

This week, a global art initiative is coming to the U.S. for the first time, and it will be hosted in Minneapolis. The “Beyond Walls” project started in 2019 at the Eiffel Tower in Paris by an artist known as “Saype.” They are large-scale art operations made in a very special way. He joined FOX 9 News at 5 Sunday about coming to Minneapolis for a week of art.

MINNEAPOLIS (WJON News) — It will be a celebration of everything purple this week in Minneapolis. The city will once again hold a Prince Celebration from Wednesday through Sunday.

Chaka Khan will help kick off the festivities at First Avenue on Wednesday night.

The five-day festival will have a wide array of things to do and see.  There is a Prince Sing-Along at the Celebration Block Party on Saturday. Fans can walk the purple way with the second annual Purple Path, which is a city-wide tribute with eight temporary sidewalk clings marking significant sites tied to the artist.

The goal of the sing-along is to have 15,000 people singing arm-in-arm.

Plus, at the Meet Minneapolis Visitor Center, you can check out a replica of the motorcycle used in the 1984 movie “Purple Rain,” a five-foot-tall exact replica of the “cloud shoe” worn by Prince in the music video for “Raspberry Beret,” and paintings by Peyton Scott Russel.

Morris Day, Tevin Campbell, and more will play a concert at The Armory on Friday night.

There will also be walking tours, appearances by Prince’s bands the Revolution and the New Power Generation, and a Prince night at the Twins’ game on Thursday.

Purple Path map, Prince Celebration 2026

READ MORE FROM AUTHOR PAUL HABSTRITT