WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Justice Department said Monday it had created a nearly 1.8-billion-U.S.-dollar fund to compensate people who claim they were victims of government "weaponization" or "lawfare."
"The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department's intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
The "Anti-Weaponization Fund" was part of a deal tied to U.S. President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over the leaking of his tax records.
Trump sued the IRS in January for failing to properly oversee a contractor who leaked the tax returns of Trump and other wealthy individuals to media outlets.
Trump withdrew the 10-billion-dollar lawsuit against the IRS, according to a Monday court filing. ■