The U.S. Department of Justice is setting up a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to pay claims to people who were “victims of lawfare and weaponization.” The fund is part of a settlement of a $10 billion lawsuit that President Trump filed against the IRS over the leaking of his tax returns. Our analysts rated media coverage about the settlement and the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” in our Topic of the Week.

An article published by Politico provides details on both the settlement and the fund. It provides background about the lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS in January and the legal difficulties of the case, in which “Trump was effectively both the plaintiff and defendant.” It also includes quotes from Democratic lawmakers who are critical of the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created as part of the settlement. Analysts found that the article “would be a good primer on the topic,” rating it as a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias.

A video from the CBC News YouTube channel received similar scores. In it, host Andrew Chang says that understanding the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is like trying “to wrestle fog because I’m looking for accountability and not quite finding it.” Chang reads from the lawsuit settlement, which says the disbursement of money from the fund will be determined by a five-person panel “who are all unequivocally accountable directly to the president, who can fire any of them without cause.” He says “the math of arriving at what certain Americans are owed through this fund is undisclosed,” but the total of $1.776 billion in the fund is an apparent nod to the country’s 250th anniversary this year. Chang notes that the fund “is intimately tied to Trump’s belief that he and his supporters have been victims of a U.S. justice system bent on punishing them,” and it’s unclear who is eligible to receive payouts from the fund.

Articles from HuffPost and National Review were rated as “analysis” but earned converse bias scores. The National Review article calls the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” a “slush fund — with Trumpian schmaltz” and says it’s “an abuse of political power, not a legal wrong.” The writer is critical of the fund but says that “once again, Trump is doing what Democrats did, just far more ostentatiously.” The article lists several activities by Trump that are not illegal but are impeachable offenses. In the end, the article says, “this episode powerfully demonstrates that law is inadequate to the task of political accountability.” The writer calls on Congress to punish these abuses of political power, but “If Congress is passive … if it is derelict in its duty to check executive excess, then we no longer have the government formed by the Constitution.” Analysts rated this article with a “skews right” bias.

The HuffPost article gives background about the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and links it to people prosecuted for actions taken during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol: “The new fund could pay claims to the likes of Jan. 6 rioters and other purported victims of ‘lawfare’ by previous administrations.” Analysts noted that the article includes reaction to the fund only from the left. The writer says Trump continues to falsely state that he won the 2020 election “and to lament the weaponization of the federal government, even as he publicly directs the Justice Department to target his own political foes.” This article received a bias rating of “skews left.”

In a video from the Aaron Parnas YouTube channel, the host says the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is “hanging on by a thread” because both Republican and Democratic lawmakers are criticizing it. Parnas says only Congress can appropriate money for the fund, and “it looks as though the executive (branch) is trying to spend money that Congress never gave it.” Parnas includes comments from Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. He also includes statements from Mike Lindell, who has applied for $400 million from the fund, and from Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, who is seeking $2 million-$5 million. ”They’re rushing to try to get the money, but the money may not actually be there for them to get” if Congress denies the funding, Parnas says. Analysts rated the video as “opinion” with a “skews left” bias, noting that the video’s headline (“Republicans TURN ON Trump as Weaponization Slush Fund in MAJOR Trouble”) exaggerates the current status of the fund.

The lowest-rated coverage in our content set came from an article by Forbes. Analysts found that the article’s headline — “Trump Gets $1.8 Billion Payday With ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund As He Drops IRS Case” — is “egregiously misleading,” as Trump isn’t being paid nor receiving the money. The article lays out the facts about the IRS lawsuit that Trump dropped and how the settlement fund will be distributed. It includes criticism of the fund and asks, “Could Trump use the settlement fund to pay himself?“ It cites reporting from ABC News that says while the fund does not pay Trump directly, “Trump’s businesses could try to get money from it.” Though the article is accurate, the headline, depending on interpretations of the words “payday,” is misleading or false. Headlines get weighted very heavily in such cases, so analysts rated this article as “misleading” with a “skews left” bias.

If you’d like to follow along on our weekly Topic of the Week exercise, you can do so by visiting our website. New Topics of the Week are posted each Monday. Read the articles and watch the videos yourself, then come back on Wednesday to compare your scores with those of our analysts. Learn more here.

Beth Heldebrandt is Director of Communications at Ad Fontes Media. She has more than 35 years of experience in the fields of journalism and public relations, and was an adjunct instructor of journalism for 17 years at Eastern Illinois University. Beth has a B.A. in journalism from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and an M.A. in English from Eastern Illinois University. She’s a mom and grandma, and enjoys traveling, puzzles and reading.