A man in a green plaid shirt and hat holds a phone while conversing with a suited politician in a brick hallway.

A man in a green plaid shirt and hat holds a phone while conversing with a suited politician in a brick hallway.

Hallways on Capitol Hill on Tuesday were buzzing with tension as left-wing journalists, visibly agitated with the Trump administration’s newly announced 1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, swarmed Republicans senators with gotcha questions about potential payments to pardoned January 6 defendants.

In one of the most heated confrontations of the day, TMZ reporter Charlie Cotton aggressively pressed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, demanding a yes-or-no answer on whether “violent” January 6 “rioters” should receive taxpayer money from the fund.

“I’m a little concerned that January 6th rioters — violent January 6 rioters who were convicted and then pardoned — I’m a little worried that they’re going to be entitled to taxpayer money. That money’s going to come out of my pocket and go into their pockets,” Cotton said. “Do you think violent, convicted, and then pardoned January 6 rioters… do you think they should be eligible for this sort of slush fund?”  
Cruz immediately fired back: “Yeah, you know, I’m not surprised you’re worried about that, but I’m curious,” the GOP lawmaker said. “Were you worried at all when Joe Biden was weaponizing the Justice Department against peaceful protesters as well as President Trump himself?”
When Cotton insisted, ” I don’t want to to discuss the prior administration,” Cruz accused the reporter of having “a political agenda.”
A journalist captures a moment with a politician in a brick corridor, highlighting a candid interaction during a public event.
“I know you don’t,” Cruz said. “I understand you’ve got a political agenda.”

The exchange grew increasingly testy as Cotton repeatedly interrupted, demanding a direct answer. Cruz responded by drawing a clear distinction between violence and peaceful protest while defending victims of politicized prosecutions.

“I believe people who engage in actual violence should be prosecuted and face consequences,” Cruz said. “I believe people who engage in peaceful protests are protected by the First Amendment. The Biden Department of Justice deliberately targeted people who engaged in peaceful protests.”

Cruz also referenced his book Justice Corrupted while continuing to push back.

The facts surrounding January 6 paint a far different picture than the corporate narrative. Police initiated the violencehttps://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/exclusive-j6-footage-defense-attorney-exposes-exact-moment/ that day by employing excessive force—shooting innocent Americans in the face or neck with rubber bullets without issuing proper dispersal orders, in violation of state and federal law. This reporter and The Gateway Pundit have extensively documented these incidents.

Victims like Joshua Black, who was shot in the face while simply standing on the Capitol lawn, later served prison time.

FILE - Joshua Matthew Black, a supporter of then-President Donald Trump, is shown injured after shot by a police crowd-control munition during clashes with police at the U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. The Alabama man has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol and invading the Senate floor with a knife on his hip and a gaping wound on his face. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

Defendants faced grotesque over-prosecution. Proud Boys leaders received sentences of 22, 18, 17, and 15 years for non-violent offense—sentences the Justice Department appealed in attempts to impose life sentences. Notably, Enrique Tarrio, who received the longest sentence, was not even present at the Save America rally.

Many endured documented: diesel therapy, prolonged solitary confinement and inhumane conditions.

The Anti-Weaponization Fund, formally announced by the Department of Justice on Monday, totals $1.776 billion transferred from the Judgement Fund as part of the settlement President Trump’s IRS lawsuit over the illegal leak of his tax returns.

Trump and his family received a formal apology but no monetary damages are ineligible for the fund.

“The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again…a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated in a press release published Monday, describing the fund’s purpose.

At a health care event Monday, President Trump directly addressed the fund:

“This is reimbursing people that were horribly treated…They’ve been weaponized. They’ve  been, in some cases, imprisoned wrongly,” the president said. “They’ve paid legal fees they didn’t have. They’ve gone bankrupt. Their lives have been destroyed. And they turned out to be right. It was a terrible period of time in the history of our country.”
For years, the corporate media cheered as Americans were persecuted, tortured in federal custody, and buried under outrageous sentences for getting beatdown, shot and tear gassed by police for exercising their First Amendment rights.
The American people demanded accountability, and the reckoning is just beginning.

The post Ted Cruz GOES OFF on TMZ’s Charlie Cotton for Attacking Trump’s $1.776B Fund to Compensate Pardoned J6 appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.