A federal judge on Friday indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion payout fund, which is still being challenged in court despite Justice Department officials claiming the effort is dead.

At a hearing in Virginia federal court, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema issued a preliminary injunction blocking the fund, which the administration sought to create for those who claim they were improperly investigated by the government. She forcefully rejected the government’s arguments that the case was moot, citing Trump’s praising of the idea and acting attorney general Todd Blanche’s unwillingness to say under the penalty of perjury that the administration will not try to stand it up in the future.

A federal judge on Friday indefinitely blocked President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion payout fund, which is still being challenged in court despite Justice Department officials claiming the effort is dead.

At a hearing in Virginia federal court, U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema issued a preliminary injunction blocking the fund, which the administration sought to create for those who claim they were improperly investigated by the government. She forcefully rejected the government’s arguments that the case was moot, citing Trump’s praising of the idea and acting attorney general Todd Blanche’s unwillingness to say under the penalty of perjury that the administration will not try to stand it up in the future.....

Separately, Blanche told members of Congress that the administration had scrapped plans for the fund after intense and bipartisan political backlash. But he has resisted calls to put that pledge in writing or to publicly amend the agreement that created the fund, an out-of-court deal the president’s personal lawyers struck with the Justice Department to resolve three legal claims Trump had filed against the government.