2026年5月20日 下午1:59 美东夏令时 / 《华盛顿邮报》
警官哈里·邓恩和丹尼尔·霍奇斯在已知的首起相关诉讼中辩称，该基金违反联邦法律，并将使政治暴力合法化。
作者：萨尔瓦多·里佐
2021年1月6日国会大厦骚乱期间保卫美国国会的两名警官周三提起联邦诉讼，试图阻止特朗普政府设立的近18亿美元基金，该基金将用于赔偿那些声称自己成为“武器化”司法系统目标的人。
已从国会警察局退休的哈里·邓恩和华盛顿特区警官丹尼尔·霍奇斯在诉讼中表示，司法部的新基金可能会让领导国会大厦袭击事件的极右翼极端主义者获利，并助长那些以唐纳德·特朗普总统名义实施暴力的人的气焰。
邓恩和霍奇斯的律师表示，使用纳税人资金支付此类款项将是“本世纪最厚颜无耻的总统腐败行为”。
该诉讼在华盛顿特区美国地区法院提起，是代理司法部长托德·布兰奇本周宣布的“反武器化基金”面临的首起已知法律挑战。目前尚未拨付任何资金。
特朗普做出了一项不同寻常的举动：同意撤回他针对2019年其机密税务记录泄露事件对国税局提起的100亿美元诉讼，作为交换，他的政府同意设立17.76亿美元的基金，用于向能够证明自己遭受不当调查或起诉的申请人支付赔偿。
特朗普长期以来一直声称，他及其盟友和支持者受到了民主党政府的不公对待。根据和解协议，总统及其家人无法获得赔偿。
布兰奇尚未任命的五人委员会将制定赔偿标准，并向符合条件的申请人发放赔偿。这17.76亿美元将从“判决基金”中拨付，该基金由国会于1956年设立，用于支付涉及美国政府的法律和解或法院判决费用。
这项和解协议包含一项条款，永久禁止国税局就协议生效前特朗普及其家人或企业的未缴税款主张追讨，这已经引发两党担忧。批评人士称，这是特朗普试图改写1月6日袭击事件暴力历史的最新一步。
从右至左依次为：警官哈里·邓恩、丹尼尔·霍奇斯、迈克尔·法诺内和阿奎利诺·戈内尔2021年在众议院委员会作证。（奇普·索莫德维拉/盖蒂图片社）
国会大厦骚乱发生在特朗普重复其虚假声称自己在2020年总统选举中击败乔·拜登的集会之后。一群暴徒冲击并闯入国会大厦，迫使议员疏散，将拜登胜选的认证工作推迟数小时。超过140名警官受伤，其中包括霍奇斯，司法部称此次袭击造成了数百万美元的损失。
事件发生后，司法部启动了其历史上规模最大的调查。已有超过1500人因与此次袭击有关而被起诉。特朗普已对他们全部予以赦免或减刑。
邓恩和霍奇斯在诉讼中辩称，司法部有可能向数百名暴徒发放赔偿的做法违反了宪法和多项联邦法律。第十四条修正案规定：“合众国或任何州都不得承担或偿付为援助反对合众国的叛乱或起义而产生的任何债务或义务。”
佛罗里达州一名此前处理特朗普对国税局诉讼的联邦法官曾要求其私人律师、政府官员以及一组由法院指定的独立律师提交法律意见书，探讨尽管国税局隶属于总统，但该案是否仍可继续推进。通常情况下，联邦诉讼只有在双方存在对抗关系时才能进行。
司法部的意见书本应于周三提交，但并未提交。布兰奇周一宣布与特朗普达成和解后，该案突然终结。邓恩和霍奇斯的律师辩称，联邦法律禁止使用判决基金支付那些不会获得法院批准的金钱判决的“虚假”案件。
“该基金的存在本身就传递了一个明确且令人不寒而栗的信息：那些以特朗普总统名义实施暴力的人不仅会逃脱惩罚，还会获得丰厚回报，”诉讼文件中写道。“这一信息本身，就大幅增加了邓恩和霍奇斯几乎每天都面临的原本已经相当严重的私刑暴力风险。它还鼓励那些骚扰邓恩和霍奇斯、向他们发送死亡威胁的人变本加厉。”
司法部未立即回应置评请求。
周三在国会山的听证会上，布兰奇拒绝排除以下可能性：在骚乱期间暴力袭击警察的定罪者可能通过该基金获得赔偿。
“正如昨天明确的那样，这个国家的任何人只要认为自己是武器化司法的受害者，都有资格申请，”布兰奇说。他补充道：“这不仅限于共和党人，不仅限于拜登政府的武器化指控，也不仅限于1月6日事件，不受任何形式或范围的限制。”
尽管如此，多名1月6日事件被告已对该基金的宣布表示欢迎，称这是特朗普政府终于愿意处理他们针对政府提起的起诉相关主张的积极信号。
骚乱期间的极端主义团体之一“骄傲男孩”，在该基金宣布前就已寻求1亿美元赔偿，以应对其所谓的“政治迫害”。数百名个体暴徒也已就所谓的财产损失和人身伤害向联邦政府提出索赔。
“再多的钱也无法让他们的生活恢复完整，”代表多名在基金宣布前提交赔偿索赔的被告的律师马克·麦克洛斯基说。“但他们希望这一程序能为他们提供一个开端。”
杰里米·罗巴克和马克·伯曼对本文亦有贡献。
Police officers at Capitol on Jan. 6 sue to block DOJ payout fund
May 20, 2026 at 1:59 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post
The fund violates federal law and would legitimize political violence, officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges argue in first known challenge.
By Salvador Rizzo
Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to block the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claim they were targets of a “weaponized” legal system.
Harry Dunn, who retired from the Capitol Police, and Daniel Hodges, a D.C. police officer, said in their lawsuit that the Justice Department’s new fund could enrich the far-right extremists who led the attack on the Capitol and embolden those who commit violence in President Donald Trump’s name.
The use of taxpayer money to fund those payments would represent “the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century,” attorneys for Dunn and Hodges said.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in D.C., is the first known legal challenge to the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” announced this week by acting attorney general Todd Blanche. No funds have yet been disbursed.
In an unusual move, Trump agreed to drop a $10 billion lawsuit he had filed against the IRS over the 2019 leak of his confidential tax records, and in exchange, his administration agreed to establish a $1.776 billion fund to pay applicants who can show they were improperly investigated or prosecuted.
Trump has long claimed that he, along with allies and supporters, have been wronged by Democratic administrations. Under the settlement, the president and his family cannot receive payments.
A five-member commission that Blanche has yet to appoint would set the criteria for the awards and distribute them to eligible applicants. The $1.776 billion would be drawn from the Judgment Fund, which Congress created in 1956 to cover the cost of legal settlements or court judgments involving the U.S. government.
The settlement — which includes a provision that forever bars the IRS from pursuing unpaid-tax claims against Trump, his family or businesses that predated the agreement — has drawn bipartisan concern. Critics described it as the latest step in Trump’s quest to rewrite the violent history of the Jan. 6 attack.
From right, officers Harry Dunn, Daniel Hodges, Michael Fanone and Aquilino Gonell testify before a House panel in 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Capitol riot followed a rally where Trump repeated his false claims that he had defeated Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. A mob stormed and breached the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to evacuate and delaying the certification of Biden’s victory for hours. More than 140 police officers were injured, including Hodges, and the Justice Department has said the attack caused millions of dollars in damage.
In the aftermath, the Justice Department launched the largest investigation in its history. More than 1,500 people were charged in connection with the attack. Trump has pardoned all of them or commuted their prison sentences.
Dunn and Hodges argue in the lawsuit that the Justice Department’s move to potentially hand out reparations to hundreds of rioters violates the Constitution and several federal statutes. The 14th Amendment says “neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”
A federal judge in Florida who had been handling Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS had asked his personal attorneys, government officials and a group of independent, court-appointed lawyers to file legal briefs on whether the case could proceed despite the fact that the IRS works for the president. Usually, federal lawsuits can proceed only if the parties are adversarial to each other.
The Justice Department’s brief was due Wednesday, but it was not filed. The case ended abruptly Monday when Blanche announced the settlement with Trump. Federal law prohibits using the Judgment Fund for “sham” cases that would not lead to a court-approved monetary judgment, the attorneys for Dunn and Hodges argued.
“The Fund’s mere existence sends a clear and chilling message: those who enact violence in President Trump’s name will not just avoid punishment, they will be rewarded with riches,” the lawsuit says. “That message, by itself, substantially increases the already sizeable risk of vigilante violence Dunn and Hodges face on a near-daily basis. And it encourages those who are harassing Dunn and Hodges, and sending them death threats, to up the ante.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
In Capitol Hill testimony Wednesday, Blanche refused to rule out the possibility that people convicted of violent attacks on police officers during the riot could receive payouts through the fund.
“As was made plain yesterday, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were a victim of weaponization,” Blanche said. He added: “It’s not limited to Republicans. It’s not limited to the Biden weaponization. It’s not limited in any way, scope or form to January 6.”
Still, several Jan. 6 defendants have hailed the fund’s announcement as a positive sign that the Trump administration is finally willing to engage with claims they’ve filed against the government over their prosecutions.
The Proud Boys, one of the extremist groups leading the riots, already was seeking $100 million in damages over its alleged “political persecution” before the new fund was announced. Hundreds of individual rioters had filed claims against the federal government for alleged property damage and personal injury.
“There’s no amount of money that will make their lives whole,” Mark McCloskey, an attorney representing several of the defendants who filed compensation claims before the fund’s announcement. “But they’re hopeful this process will give them a start.”
Jeremy Roebuck and Mark Berman contributed to this report.