NPR News: 06-01-2026 5PM EDT

Ryland Barton· Host0:00

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. The Justice Department says it will abide by a federal court order that temporarily pauses the Trump administration's nearly one point eight billion dollar fund for people who claim they were targets of politicized prosecutions. The fund has come under sharp criticism from Democrats as well as many Republicans. NPR's Ryan Lucas reports.

Ryan Lucas0:21

The so-called Anti-Weaponization Fund has been on hold since a federal judge temporarily blocked it last week in response to a lawsuit challenging the fund's creation. The order barred the Justice Department from taking any action to create the fund, transfer money into it, consider claims, or make payments out of it. The pause is necessary to give the court time to hear from both sides on the legal arguments. Now, the Justice Department says in a statement that it strongly disagrees with the court order, but it says it will abide by it. The Trump administration continues to face intense and even bipartisan blowback from lawmakers over the fund, including over the possibility that Capitol rioters who attacked police could receive payments from it. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.

Ryland Barton· Host1:07

Former Colorado elections clerk and conspiracy theorist Tina Peters has been released from prison. She served less than a quarter of her nine-year sentence for her role in a scheme to copy her county's election system. Democratic Governor Jared Polis commuted her sentence, saying she had to express regret about her actions. Today, she appeared on right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon's program, repeating debunked