Why Jan. 6 officers are suing to stop Trump's $1.8 billion allies fund

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🗓️ 21 May 2026

⏱️ 23 minutes

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Summary

President Trump's administration has created a nearly $1.8 billion fund designed to pay out people who say the government unfairly investigated or prosecuted them, including people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Two police officers who defended the Capitol that day are suing, calling the fund a way for Trump to “finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence” in his name. Brendan Ballou, who is representing the officers, explains more.

Then, the U.S. continues to put pressure on Cuba, indicting former president Raúl Castro and sending an aircraft carrier to the southern Caribbean. Associated Press reporter Cristiana Mesquita shares the reactions she’s hearing from Cubans.

And, on May 22, 1856, tensions over slavery boiled over on the Senate floor when a slave-owning representative from South Carolina used a cane to beat Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner, an outspoken opponent of slavery. David Freudberg talks about his new radio documentary which explains how Sumner was “ahead of his time.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	WBUR Podcasts, Boston.
0:05.8	It does an enormous disservice to the officers who risk their lives that day.
0:10.5	And I think it, frankly, endangers all of us when he implicitly condones the possibility of political violence.
0:18.5	A lawyer for the cops who defended the Capitol during the pro-Trump
0:21.8	riot on January 6th says the administration's so-called anti-weaponization fund is corrupt,
0:28.2	dangerous, and illegal. It's Thursday, May 21st, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBOR.
0:45.2	I'm Chris Bentley.
0:49.1	Today on the show, reaction from Havana over the American indictment of Cuba's former president,
0:55.7	Raul Castro, and rumors of a possible attack by the United States.
1:00.9	If they can defend themselves, I don't know. They certainly say they intend to.
1:07.2	Also, political discourse in Washington can be heated, but that's nothing new.
1:13.3	Before the Civil War, an important abolitionist was savagely attacked on the Senate floor.
1:19.3	While Sumner's not looking, Brooks approaches from the front, takes his cane and starts to smash it over Sumner's head.
1:25.9	What the caning of Sumner tells us 170 years later, coming up in about 15 minutes.
1:32.1	But first, there is a new lawsuit seeking to dissolve the Trump administration's anti-weaponization fund.
1:39.9	We've been covering this story for the last two days on this podcast.
1:43.2	More analysis on that new fund on Tuesday and Wednesdays shows.
1:48.8	To recap, this is nearly $1.8 billion that the government wants to give to people who claim they were unfairly targeted by the Biden Justice Department.
1:58.7	Earlier this year, Trump sued the federal government over the week of his
2:02.4	tax returns. Rather than fight or seek to dismiss the case, the administration that he runs
2:08.8	settled with the president, awarding him and his businesses immunity from tax audits,
2:14.4	and setting up that $1.8 billion fund.
	...

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