By Mitchell Schmidt
The Wisconsin State Journal
(TNS)
A growing number of Wisconsin Democrats, including several sitting lawmakers and candidates for governor, are proposing a 100% tax on any funds sent to Wisconsinites convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol through a fund recently created by the U.S. Department of Justice.
President Donald Trump’s administration announced earlier this month plans to create a $1.8 billion fund for victims of political “weaponization” as part of a settlement in Trump’s unprecedented lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the alleged mishandling of his tax records.
Under the agreement, the U.S. Department of Justice will create a pool of money that can provide payments to individuals who claim they have suffered “weaponization or lawfare” by the U.S. government, including those involved in the more than five-year-old attack on the Capitol.
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Democrats immediately blasted the proposal, with U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth, last week introducing a “Tax the Grift Act,” a bill that would tax all payments from the fund at 100% and send those funds back to the U.S. Treasury.
On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, unveiled a bill that would place a 100% state income tax on “any payouts received from this slush fund.”
“Put simply—if you’re from Wisconsin and you stormed the Capitol, you will not receive money from the slush fund,” Hesselbein said in a statement.
Either proposal would need Republican support to pass, a tall order for a Legislature that has already concluded its regularly scheduled floor periods for the year.
Trump’s new fund is also becoming a talking point in the first open race for Wisconsin governor in 16 years, where more than half a dozen Democrats are running.
Former Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan said in a video posted on social media the individuals “who attacked the Capitol are now lining up to get taxpayer money from Donald Trump’s illegal slush fund.”
“Anyone who gets a dime from that fund should be required to pay back everything, 100% in Wisconsin state taxes—every penny,” he said.
Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes offered a similar sentiment, noting that “Tom Tiffany’s insurrectionist buddies won’t get away with taxpayer-funded handouts in Wisconsin.”
U.S. Rep. Tiffany, the top Republican in the gubernatorial race, said Tuesday that people who stormed the Capitol could “possibly” be owed restitution from the U.S. government—excluding those who injured law enforcement officers.
The Hazelhurst Republican said he was still reviewing the fund’s details, but noted that payments might be appropriate if the harm experienced by individuals is “significant enough.” He said he would draw the line at “anyone that harmed a law enforcement official.
Tiffany voted to overturn Joe Biden’s wins in Pennsylvania and Arizona in 2020.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, another Democrat in the race for governor, said in a post on social media Tiffany “knows full well that $1.8 billion taxpayer dollars are being dumped into a political slush fund.”
“But he’d rather turn a blind eye to corruption and stay in Trump’s good graces than lower costs for Wisconsin communities,” Crowley said.
In Wisconsin, Trump’s former attorney Jim Troupis has requested $3.2 million from the fund, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Troupis is one of three people charged with attempting to hand Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes to Trump even though Biden had won the state’s 2020 election.
Photo caption: The Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison. (Connor Betts/Unsplash)
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© 2026 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.). Visit www.wisconsinstatejournal.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.
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