WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Justice Department announced a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund aimed at compensating individuals the department says suffered through politicized prosecutions. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not rule out that individuals charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot could be eligible for payments from the fund.

The Justice Department also removed press releases detailing the charges against hundreds of individuals who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot from its website. A review found that the majority of press releases pertaining to Jan. 6 defendants had been removed from the department's website as of Friday evening.

"We will do everything in our power to make whole those who were persecuted for political purposes. This includes stripping DOJ's website of partisan propaganda," the department's Rapid Response account posted on X.

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump pardoned individuals who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Justice Department officials and FBI agents who were part of the Jan. 6 investigation and prosecutions were fired soon after Trump returned to office.

Sen. Dick Durbin wrote in a letter to Blanche that compensating individuals who participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was absurd and offensive. Sen. Thom Tillis also objected to the program. "The fund is a payout pot for punks," Tillis said.

A former Jan. 6 prosecutor and a law professor acquitted in a federal case brought by the Trump administration filed a lawsuit arguing that the fund creates a politically discriminatory process that excludes individuals who say they were mistreated by Republican officials. The lawsuit argued that the fund was not approved by Congress, unlike prior funds intended to compensate victims.

Two officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6 filed a separate lawsuit alleging that the fund would directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters.

Ed Martin, who was removed from his role as head of the Justice Department's "weaponization" working group earlier this year, predicted that the department would give millions of dollars to individuals charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.