Trump administration created fund to resolve his lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns

• Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email

A federal judge in Virginia has extended an order blocking the Trump administration’s nearly $1.8bn slush fund, saying the administration’s public statements that the fund was dead were not assuring enough.

The US district judge Leonie Brinkema, an appointee of Bill Clinton, said she would lift her order if the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, and the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, filed a declaration under penalty of perjury that the fund was not moving forward in the next week.

Guardian review finds group tied to Cleta Mitchell and Heather Honey funded misleading ads in swing states

As the 2024 election approached, advertisements began popping up in key swing states suggesting local officials had discretion not to certify elections.

The advertisements, reported at the time by ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch, were misleading. Certification is not optional, and officials are required to certify the vote once the proper process for any election challenges are complete and an official challenge is complete. The warnings, nonetheless, arrived at a moment when Donald Trump and allies seemed to be gearing up to contest the election results if he lost.