Judge orders Trump officials to disclose who set up the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund

(NBC, KYMA) - A judge has ruled that the Trump administration must disclose the names of the people who came up with the structure for the now defunct anti-weaponization fund.

Today's ruling came as part of an on going lawsuit first filed by a fired January 6th federal prosecutor and a law professor seeking to block the fund.

The $1.8 billion fund was initially established to compensate those who claim they were unfairly investigated by the Department of Justice, which attorney General Todd Blanche says is now "dead."

The judge's ruling will force the Justice Department to hand over documents related to the issue, including those who conceived the fund.

Plaintiffs argue this discovery is needed to understand how the fund was initiated.

The justice department is appealing the judge's ruling and has also filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit but there is no ruling on that request.

The proposed payouts have fueled bi-partisan criticism in Congress.