Hickenlooper Plans Amendment to Block Tina Peters Payout From Trump’s $1.8B Slush Fund

Hickenlooper's amendment would prevent Trump from giving a single taxpayer dollar to Tina Peters

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper announced he plans to introduce an amendment to the Republicans' reconciliation bill that would prohibit disbursement of funds from President Trump's recently-announced $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to individuals like Tina Peters who have been convicted of crimes related to state or federal election interference, impersonation, identity theft, official misconduct, violation of duty in elections, and failure to comply with the requirements of a Secretary of State.

"Election deniers who break the law are not victims. They are criminals. The last thing we should do is reward these people with your taxpayer dollars," said Hickenlooper. "Instead of lowering costs, President Trump is creating a $1.8 billion slush fund for people like Tina Peters who tried to undermine our free and fair election system. Our amendment stops it."

This week, the Department of Justice announced an unprecedented $1.8 billion fund to compensate election criminals like Tina Peters. The "Anti-Weaponization Fund" is part of a settlement that resolves President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, and would be paid for by taxpayer money. On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance called Tina Peters "innocent" and pointed to her as someone who would be deserving of taxpayer funded compensation through the fund. January 6th insurrectionists who beat and killed police officers during the attack on the Capitol are also expecting compensation from the fund. Earlier this week, Hickenlooper vowed to fight Trump's DOJ slush fund with everything he has.

Hickenlooper's amendment is expected to be voted on during the vote-a-rama process surrounding the Republican reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which Republicans delayed until June. Hickenlooper will vote NO on the reconciliation bill and has consistently refused to fund ICE without an overhaul of the agency.

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