Jan. 6 Police Officers Sue to Block Trump Settlement Fund

Two police officers present during the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach have filed suit to prevent President Donald Trump from implementing his settlement agreement with the IRS and Treasury Department.

Their suit, filed on May 20, alleges that funds from the $1.77 billion settlement will be used to “directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters.”

Trump sued the government in January, seeking $10 billion after his tax returns were leaked during his first term in office.

On May 18, the Justice Department announced the settlement, which creates a fund that will recompense victims of alleged government “weaponization.”

Retired U.S. Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn and Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges said Trump’s suit was “frivolous … because Trump, as the sitting president, was both the plaintiff and in direct control of all defendants.”

“Trump all but conceded the lack of adversity; earlier this year, he described the case as requiring him to ‘work out a settlement with myself,’” their suit alleges.

They also claim that it puts them in danger, because the fund “encourages those who enacted violence in the president’s name to continue to do so.”

The suit alleges that the money will be paid to protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, were prosecuted, and were later pardoned by Trump.

However, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the money is not meant for any specific group of people and that anyone who says he or she suffered unjustly because of government overreach can file a claim.

“In the broadest sense, it’s weaponization; and it’s not limited to Republicans, it’s not limited to Democrats, it’s not limited to Jan. 6 defendants,” he told the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 19.

“It’s limited only by the term weaponization.”

Blanche declined to exclude Jan. 6 defendants—or anyone else—from potentially being compensated.

“I would hope you would make a rule that anyone convicted of assaulting a police officer or violent crime is simply not eligible. They should not apply,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told Blanche.

Blanche responded that rules of eligibility would be set by a five-member team of commissioners who would evaluate applicants.

“Anybody in this country can apply,” he said.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Justice Department and Treasury for comment.

Dunn and Hodges were joint plaintiffs in a previous lawsuit related to Jan. 6.

In June 2025, they sued to force Capitol Architect Thomas Austin to comply with a congressional mandate to install a plaque commemorating the officers who responded to the breach.

The plaque was installed on March 7, 2026. However, they said the plaque’s location was not appropriate, and the suit is continuing.