MAGA grifters & insurrectionists line up for a piece of Trump’s $1.8 billion ‘slush fund’

A growing roster of convicted political operatives, January 6 rioters, and disgraced Trump allies are reportedly preparing to seek taxpayer-funded payouts from President Donald Trump’s controversial new $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” a program critics say increasingly resembles a federally backed MAGA slush fund.

Among the names now publicly tied to the fund are former congressman George Santos, Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, and ex-Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, the Washington Post reports.

The fund was created days ago as part of an extraordinary settlement resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax returns. Under the agreement, the Justice Department established a taxpayer-funded compensation pool, controlled by Trump, for people who claim they were victims of political “weaponization” by the federal government.

Critics across the political spectrum have called the arrangement unprecedented, corrupt, and unconstitutional. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin described the fund as a “slush fund.

Current and former police officers injured during the January 6 attack filed suit Wednesday seeking to block it entirely. And now, some of the country’s most infamous Trump-world figures appear eager to cash in.

Santos, the out gay former Republican congressman from New York, was expelled from Congress in 2023 after a blistering House Ethics Committee investigation found evidence he used campaign funds for luxury purchases, Botox treatments, OnlyFans subscriptions, and personal expenses while fabricating major portions of his biography. Federal prosecutors later secured convictions when he pleaded guilty to charges tied to fraud and campaign finance crimes.

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His political rise and implosion became one of the defining scandals of the post-Trump Republican Party. As a candidate, he lied about his education, work history, religion, family background, and finances, and in Congress, he briefly became a national conservative celebrity and prolific right-wing media fixture.

Late last year, Trump granted Santos clemency, dramatically reducing the legal consequences tied to his conviction and reigniting outrage among ethics watchdogs and former House colleagues.

Now Santos reportedly wants more than clemency. According to The Washington Post, he believes he deserves “an apology.”

Tarrio has reportedly suggested he could seek between $2 million and $5 million from the fund after serving prison time for seditious conspiracy connected to the Capitol insurrection. Trump later pardoned him alongside more than 1,500 defendants tied to the riot.

Blagojevich, whose corruption conviction once made him a bipartisan symbol of political excess after he attempted to sell President Barack Obama’s Senate seat, is also reportedly considering an application. Trump commuted his sentence during his first term and later granted him a full pardon.

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The list of prospective applicants reportedly extends beyond politicians and rioters. Attorneys representing hundreds of January 6 defendants say their clients are already calculating financial losses stemming from prosecutions, imprisonment, lost jobs, and reputational damage. Right-wing media personalities and Trump loyalists are also exploring claims.

The fund’s structure has alarmed legal scholars and ethics experts because of the significant discretion it grants the Trump administration. A five-member commission, largely appointed by Trump allies, will determine eligibility and payouts. Many payout records could remain confidential.

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Democrats have already promised investigations if they regain control of Congress in the midterms.

“This settlement on its face looks completely like collusion,” Rep. Becca Balint told The Washington Post. “This is complete and total madness.”