By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - Senate Republicans were meeting with Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday to discuss the Trump administration's $1.8 billion "weaponization" fund
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that his 53 Republican senators want to hear an explanation from Blanche on how the fund would work "and what they (Trump administration officials) intend to do with it."
The meeting began shortly after Thune's remarks.
The "Anti-Weaponization Fund"
stems from a $10 billion lawsuit President Donald Trump had filed against the Internal Revenue Service over a disclosure of his tax returns to the media in 2019 and 2020.
A legal settlement subsequently was revealed this week for the fund, which would be for victims of alleged political "weaponization." It also would bar audits of Trump taxes, according to legal experts.
"Obviously our members have very legitimate questions about it," Thune said. "We've had some conversations about ... if it's going to be a feature going forward, what it might look like and how we might make sure that it's fenced-in appropriately?"
Democrats have attacked the arrangement as a Trump "slush fund" and warned that they have prepared several amendments to an unrelated bill the Senate is trying to pass this week providing $72 billion in additional funding to Department of Homeland Security deportation efforts.
That has left Senate Republicans in the difficult position of either defending the fund, which has stirred a maelstrom in Washington, or potentially incurring Trump's wrath if they joined forces with Democrats or tried to impose some "guardrails" on the fund.
Thune was asked by reporters whether this controversy -- and the likely removal of $1 billion from the legislation that Trump wanted to help build a new White House ballroom -- could stand in the way of passing the immigration law enforcement bill.
"There's always a chance," Thune said, adding that he was still working on the legislation.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Doina Chiacu)
