Judge Brinkema issued a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction against the Department of Justice's 'weaponization slush fund' for J6 defendants.

Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Sep 14, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 6 support1 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 95%

The Lawfare PodcastSep 14, 2026

Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a temporary block on the fund on May 29, 2026 and a preliminary injunction on June 12, 2026, against the Trump administration's roughly $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund, which critics called a slush fund that would reward Jan. 6 defendants and other allies.

What we found

Supports. Reuters and AP report that Brinkema indefinitely blocked the fund and issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from creating it while the lawsuit proceeds.[1][2]

Supports. NBC reports that Brinkema temporarily blocked the fund on May 29, 2026, halting transfers, claims consideration and disbursements pending motions, which corresponds to the temporary restraining order element of the claim.[3][5]

Supports. HuffPost and TPM describe the fund as a plan to compensate Jan. 6 rioters and Trump allies and report the preliminary injunction against it, supporting the 'for J6 defendants' framing.[4][6]

Context. The administration said it had dropped the fund, but the judge ruled the public statements insufficient to moot the case, so the block stayed in place.[1][2][7]