Rolling Stone reports:

The exact criteria for receiving money from Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “weaponization” compensation slush fund remains an open question — but his supporters who feel they have been victimized are already lining up to collect a slice of the pie, and laying out plans for what they might do with it.

“Anybody can apply,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers during a hearing before the Senate on Tuesday. He even suggested that former first-child Hunter Biden could be eligible to file for compensation stemming from federal investigations into his taxes and possession of a firearm. But while Hunter Biden and Democrats may be welcome to apply, who will be approved by the obscure five-person review panel supposedly doling out the cash is unclear. The Trump administration, however, is going out of its way to ensure that pardoned Jan. 6 defendants and beleaguered allies to the president should feel free to begin preparing their applications, even if they were convicted of violent offenses.

During a Tuesday press conference, Vice President J.D. Vance complained that Jan. 6 defendants and Trump supporters “never [get] an ounce of sympathy when it comes to disproportionate sentencing,” adding that he wasn’t going to rule out payouts going to anyone, even those who assaulted cops on Jan. 6.

Enrique Tarrio — former chairman of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in prison — tells Rolling Stone that for many of the Jan. 6 participants pardoned by Trump, the fund could supplant a $100 million lawsuit (Tarrio says the combined total of compensatory and punitive damages is closer to $250 million) against the federal government brought by a coalition of defendants in March.

“We were looking for compensation for the things that we went through,” says Tarrio, who was pardoned by Trump last year. “I think this is a good thing. I think this is an amazing thing, and I think it starts bringing some justice.” [Continue reading…]