{"id":548807,"date":"2026-05-21T11:34:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=548807"},"modified":"2026-05-27T13:20:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:20:02","slug":"cronkite-news-former-maga-figure-denounces-trumps-slush-fund-for-criminal-defendants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/05\/21\/cronkite-news-former-maga-figure-denounces-trumps-slush-fund-for-criminal-defendants\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Former MAGA figure denounces Trump&#8217;s &#8216;slush fund&#8217; for criminal defendants"},"content":{"rendered":"<iframe data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" style=\"border-radius:12px\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/4osYnk9xXyixmB1FsW7FWB?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameBorder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Cronkite News offers an audio version of this story using an automated voice created by AI. Errors in pronunciation, pacing and intonation may occur. If you notice an error please contact <a href=\"mailto:cronkitenews@asu.edu\">cronkitenews@asu.edu<\/a>.<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Arizona\u2019s \u2018QAnon Shaman\u2019 denounces \u2018slush fund\u2019 for January 6 rioters, calls deal to shield Trump from IRS corrupt<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Thursday, May 21, 2026<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Katie O&#8217;Shaughnessy, Hayli Griffin and Marcus Reichley, Cronkite News<\/div>\r\n<DIV class=\"source-website\"><A \r\nhref=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\r\n \r\n<p>WASHINGTON &#8212; The Arizona man known as the \u201cQAnon Shaman\u201d said Wednesday that President Donald Trump\u2019s new Anti-Weaponization Fund is an abuse of power by a would-be \u201cking.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Jacob Angeli-Chansley \u2013 the face of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot with his red, white and blue face paint and horned fur headdress \u2013 denounced the $1.776 billion program as a \u201cslush fund\u201d for Trump to reward his loyalists.<\/p>\r\n<p>The Justice Department announced the fund on Monday as part of a settlement with Trump, who had sued the IRS for $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns. The settlement included an assurance that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/media\/1441216\/dl\">IRS will drop all audits and claims for back taxes against Trump<\/a>, his family and businesses.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cYou think I&#8217;m gonna take a f\u2014ing dime from Trump and the government after he&#8217;s using this thing to cover him and his family in perpetuity for all of their crimes?\u201d he told Cronkite News by phone. \u201cYou think I&#8217;m gonna take a dime of that blood money?\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2025\/01\/granting-pardons-and-commutation-of-sentences-for-certain-offenses-relating-to-the-events-at-or-near-the-united-states-capitol-on-january-6-2021\/\">pardoned more than 1,500 people who participated in the January 6 riot<\/a> the day he returned to the White House in January 2025. Many had been convicted of assaulting police officers.<\/p>\r\n<p>Cronkite News reached out to 17 of those defendants with Arizona ties. None besides Angeli-Chansley responded. <\/p>\r\n<div class=\"infogram-embed\" data-id=\"72636e02-c2b6-4ee9-a048-2496d8b8aa98\" data-type=\"interactive\" data-title=\"Arizona Seven\"><\/div><script>!function(e,i,n,s){var t=\"InfogramEmbeds\",d=e.getElementsByTagName(\"script\")[0];if(window[t]&&window[t].initialized)window[t].process&&window[t].process();else if(!e.getElementById(n)){var o=e.createElement(\"script\");o.async=1,o.id=n,o.src=\"https:\/\/e.infogram.com\/js\/dist\/embed-loader-min.js\",d.parentNode.insertBefore(o,d)}}(document,0,\"infogram-async\");<\/script>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Infogram by Cronkite News: <a href=https:\/\/infogram.com\/arizona-seven-1h7j4dv78myx94n>Arizona&#8217;s January  6 defendants<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Thirteen were convicted or pleaded guilty to crimes related to the attack. Four of the cases were dismissed after the pardon. The charges included assault on federal agents, physical violence at the Capitol and seditious conspiracy. <\/p>\r\n<p>Angeli-Chansley pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction of an official proceeding. He served 27 months of a 41-month sentence. He was released from federal prison in March 2023.<\/p>\r\n<p>During the riot, he carried an American flag fastened to a spear and used a bullhorn to call other rioters to the dais in the Senate chamber.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cHe stated that \u2018Mike Pence is a f\u2014-ing traitor\u2019 and wrote a note on available paper on the dais, stating, \u2018It\u2019s Only A Matter of Time. Justice Is Coming,\u2019\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-dc\/pr\/arizona-man-sentenced-41-months-prison-felony-charge-jan-6-capitol-breach\">according to prosecutors<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<p>At a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche<strong> <\/strong>defended the compensation fund, saying it will be open to anyone victimized by a politically motivated prosecution, not just January 6 defendants.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s not limited to Republicans. &#8230; It&#8217;s not limited to the Biden weaponization. It&#8217;s not limited to, in any way scope or form, January 6 or to (targets of special counsel) Jack Smith. There&#8217;s no limitation on the claims,\u201d<strong> <\/strong>Blanche said.<strong> <\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>He rejected Democrats\u2019 assertions that the fund is a massive, taxpayer-funded attempt by Trump to whitewash the assault on democracy. <\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cI think it&#8217;s telling that everybody on the left and \u2026 the liberal side of the media immediately says it&#8217;s a slush fund for President Trump&#8217;s friends,\u201d Blanche said. \u201cIf anything else, that\u2019s an outright admission that they know that the people that really had this Department of Justice weaponized against them were President Trump and his friends. But \u2026 that is not what the AG order that I signed yesterday says.\u201d<\/p>\r\n \r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_youtu-be\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/0HER29R2Tio\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/16\/maxresdefault-621.jpg\" alt=\"&#039;The coyote is like the trickster&#039;: Jake Angeli | U.S. Capitol Insurrection\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/0HER29R2Tio\">\n\t\t\t&#8216;The coyote is like the trickster&#8217;: Jake Angeli | U.S. Capitol Insurrection\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/0HER29R2Tio\">\n\t\t\t<p>One of the most recognizable defendants from the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is a Donald Trump supporter who bases his persona on a warped interpretatio&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/s\/desktop\/0715bbf9\/img\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"YouTube\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tYouTube\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> &#8216;The coyote is like the trickster&#8217;: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/0HER29R2Tio> ORF Interview with Jake Angeli aka QAnon Shaman aka Jacob Anthony Chansley<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption><p><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Blanche, who served as Trump\u2019s private attorney in several cases \u2013 prosecutions over election interference and classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago and allegations of hush money paid to an adult actress ahead of the 2016 election \u2013 faced strong criticism from Senate Democrats.<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cYou are acting today like the president&#8217;s personal attorney and that&#8217;s the whole problem,\u201d said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who also noted that a huge banner with Trump&#8217;s portrait was draped over the front of the Department of Justice building in February.<\/p>\r\n<p>At a homeland security committee meeting Tuesday, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego called for legislation barring establishment of a fund of the sort proposed by the Trump administration. <\/p>\r\n<p>He called it outrageous to provide compensation to \u201ctraitors who attacked the Capitol.&#8221;<\/p>\r\n<p>\u201cNo president, Republican or Democrat, should be able to use the federal treasury as a personal checkbook,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n<p>Angeli-Chansley now refers to himself as the \u201cAmerican Shaman.\u201d He was heavily involved in the QAnon movement, which centered on a conspiracy theory that Trump was fighting a cabal of Satan worshippers who engage in child sex trafficking. <\/p>\r\n<p>He was a strong MAGA supporter when the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, interrupting congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden\u2019s victory in the 2020 election.<\/p>\r\n<p>Angeli-Chansley has since become disenchanted with Trump. He has also repudiated the QAnon movement. <\/p>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/01\/15\/trump-supporter-in-coyote-headdress-and-war-paint-indicted-for-role-in-d-c-insurrection\/jakeangeliqanonshaman\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-6634\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1363\" data-attachment-id=\"6634\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/01\/15\/trump-supporter-in-coyote-headdress-and-war-paint-indicted-for-role-in-d-c-insurrection\/jakeangeliqanonshaman\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16\/jakeangeliqanonshaman.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1363\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"Jacob Angeli-Chansley\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Jacob Chansley at a November protest outside the Maricopa County elections center in the outfit that later made him the face of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Chansley, who pleaded guilty November 17 to one count in connection with the attack, got a new attorney this week in what may be the first step toward an appeal.  File photo by Hope O\u2019Brien \/ Cronkite News&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Jacob Chansley at a November protest outside the Maricopa County elections center in the outfit that later made him the face of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Chansley, who pleaded guilty November 17 to one count in connection with the attack, got a new attorney this week in what may be the first step toward an appeal.  File photo by Hope O\u2019Brien \/ Cronkite News&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16\/jakeangeliqanonshaman-1024x698.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16\/jakeangeliqanonshaman.jpg\" alt=\"jakeangeliqanonshaman\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6634\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Phoenix, Arizona, resident Jacob Angeli-Chansley, better known as the QAnon Shaman, filed a $40 trillion lawsuit against President Donald Trump in September 2025. File photo by Hope O\u2019Brien \/ Cronkite News\r\n<\/figcaption><P><\/P>\r\n<p>In a rambling phone conversation with Cronkite News, he repeatedly cited Trump\u2019s connections to Jeffrey Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting federal trial for trafficking young women and girls for sex. <\/p>\r\n<p>He reiterated his anger with Trump for resisting release of the Epstein files.<\/p>\r\n<p>And he criticized Trump for attacking Iran and supporting Israel, among other things.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2025\/10\/02\/phoenix-qanon-shaman-files-lawsuit-against-donald-trump\/\">Angeli-Chansley sued Trump for $40 trillion<\/a> in September 2025, asserting he is the true leader of the free world and vowing to use the sum to wipe out the national debt. The lawsuit was dismissed. He later filed a lawsuit against the CIA, FBI, World Bank and others in Maricopa County.<\/p>\r\n<p>He urged fellow January 6ers to \u201creject that \u2026 money.\u201d <\/p>\r\n<p>If courts allow the fund to operate, Angeli-Chansley said, it would mean that Trump \u201ccan do whatever it is that he wants.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<STRONG>For more stories from Cronkite News, visit <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=client\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<p>This <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/05\/20\/qanon-shaman-trump-slush-fund\/\">article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\">Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&amp;ssl=1\" style=\"width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;\"><\/p>\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" id=\"republication-tracker-tool-source\" src=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?republication-pixel=true&#038;post=103403\" style=\"width:1px;height:1px;\"><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: \"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/05\/20\/qanon-shaman-trump-slush-fund\/\", urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=\"parsely-cfg\" src=\"\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/p.js\"><\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The MAGA figure once known as the \u201cQAnon Shaman\u201d said that President Donald Trump\u2019s new Anti-Weaponization Fund is an abuse of power by a would-be \u201cking.\u201d","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,1,14],"tags":[4,42,7486,101,46,346,362,75,56,7363,660,1584,4778,1041,6838,53,511,1067,85,7485,124,91,7484,569],"class_list":["post-548807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-4","tag-arizona","tag-chris-van-hollen","tag-crime","tag-cronkite-news","tag-dc","tag-doj","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-iran","tag-irs","tag-israel","tag-jacob-angeli-chansley","tag-jacob-chansley","tag-jeffrey-epstein","tag-joe-biden","tag-law-enforcement","tag-maryland","tag-republicans","tag-ruben-gallebo","tag-ruben-gallego","tag-senate","tag-todd-blanche","tag-wars","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/16\/jakeangeliqanonshaman.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-2iLJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548807"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":548914,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548807\/revisions\/548914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}