As lead prosecutors of the Capitol Siege Section responsible for prosecuting insurrectionists, the former DOJ officials say the $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund rewards those who sought to overturn the 2020 election and should be halted pending judicial review.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Two former DOJ prosecutors filed a lawsuit yesterday, asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to halt the creation of the nearly $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund. The plaintiffs, Michael Gordon and Michael Romano, are represented by Democracy Defenders Fund; Platkin LLP; Heaphy, Smith, Harbach & Windom LLP; and the Washington Litigation Group and are former prosecutors in the DOJ’s Capitol Siege Section.The lawsuit argues that the Anti-Weaponization Fund violates multiple laws and constitutional provisions, including the First Amendment, the Appointments Clause, the Spending Clause, the Appropriations Clause, and the separation of powers.

During their tenure at DOJ, Gordon and Romano prosecuted Jan. 6 insurrectionists, holding them accountable for their illegal actions related to the attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. Insurrectionists were charged and found guilty for serious crimes including: assaulting law enforcement officers, seditious conspiracy, obstruction of congressional proceedings, theft and destruction of government property, and unlawful entry into restricted federal buildings.

The lawsuit argues that the Anti-Weaponization Fund created by the Trump administration causes reputational harm to Gordon and Romano because it perpetuates the lie that they, through the work they did as part of the Capitol Siege Section, failed to uphold their ethical obligations. The DOJ’s false and baseless allegations that Gordan and Romano used their official powers as government law enforcement officers to target specific entities and individuals for political purposes, the filing states, cause significant and ongoing reputational harm.

"We will believe that the Trump administration will reverse the fund when we see it,” said Amb. Norm Eisen (ret.), co-founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund. “There have been so many falsehoods and so many broken promises in his second term. Unless administration officials truly unring this bell by reversing the fund and everything associated with it, all legal avenues must continue to be pursued. We are putting an exclamation point on that with this new lawsuit."

“For years, Donald Trump and his allies have sought to discredit the prosecutors who held Jan. 6 rioters accountable for attacking our democracy. Now, the federal government is trying to use taxpayer dollars to legitimize those false attacks and reward the very people who participated in an assault on the Capitol,” said Matt Platkin, founding partner of Platkin LLP. “This lawsuit is about protecting the integrity of the justice system and the public servants who dedicated their careers to enforcing the law fairly and impartially.”

“As our complaint points out, the so-called weaponization fund is unlawful and violates multiple standards of law including the Constitution,” said Tim Heaphy, founding partner at Heaphy, Smith, Harbach & Windom, LLP. “It also unfairly maligns our clients, who at all times pursued justice and upheld the highest standards of professional ethics. We look forward to presenting these arguments and defending the integrity of our clients as this case moves forward."

“Our clients served their country with distinction. The federal government is now smearing them–and everyone else who prosecuted January 6 cases–with the lie that those prosecutions were somehow weaponization,” said Nathaniel Zelinsky, senior counsel with the Washington Litigation Group. “That is absurd–and the notion that January 6 defendants will receive payouts is even more deeply unsettling. We are proud to represent these dedicated public servants in fighting to right this wrong.”

Read the filing here.

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Democracy Defenders Fund brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.

Platkin LLP is a mission-driven law firm founded by former New Jersey Attorney General (AG) Matthew Platkin and a talented team of litigators from the AG’s office.

Heaphy, Smith, Harbach & Windom is a boutique investigations and litigation firm based in Washington, DC.

The Washington Litigation Group is a nonpartisan team of attorneys dedicated to defending individuals and institutions that have been unlawfully targeted for exercising their legal rights and to fighting against governmental overreach.