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DOJ agreed to pay pro-life activist Paul Vaughn a seven-figure settlement over Biden-era FACE Act prosecution

On July 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to pay Tennessee pro-life activist Paul Vaughn a "seven-figure" settlement resolving his lawsuit over a 2022 prosecution under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and a predawn armed raid on his home while several of his eleven children were present. Vaughn was convicted of a misdemeanor FACE Act violation and a felony conspiracy count for a March 2021 clinic protest, received no prison time, and was pardoned by President Trump in January 2025 before suing DOJ; the settlement amount was not disclosed and DOJ did not comment. It is at least the second seven-figure DOJ settlement paid to a Trump-aligned FACE Act defendant within four months, following a similar payout to Mark Houck in April 2026.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

On July 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to pay Tennessee pro-life activist Paul Vaughn a "seven-figure" settlement, resolving a lawsuit he filed over his prosecution under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Vaughn was convicted of a misdemeanor FACE Act violation and a felony count of Conspiracy Against Rights for blocking access to a Tennessee abortion clinic in March 2021. Two days after he was charged, federal agents raided his home at gunpoint and arrested him in front of his wife and children; seven of his eleven children, then ranging from 18 months to 18 years old, were home at the time, and three were held at gunpoint in the yard, according to his attorneys at the Thomas More Society. He was sentenced to supervised release with no prison time, then pardoned by President Trump in January 2025 along with 23 other FACE Act defendants from the Biden administration, before pursuing the civil suit that produced this settlement.

DOJ reached the settlement without disclosing a dollar figure or offering any public explanation, and has not commented publicly on the case. Vaughn told Fox News Digital the payout was "an acknowledgment of wrong" though "money doesn't equate justice."

The settlement follows DOJ's own April 14, 2026 "Weaponization Working Group" report, which reviewed more than 700,000 internal records and concluded the Biden DOJ had weaponized the FACE Act against pro-life activists; the report coincided with the firing of four career prosecutors who had handled FACE Act cases. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time that "this Department will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice" and that "no Department should conduct selective prosecution based on beliefs." Vaughn's settlement is at least the second seven-figure DOJ payout to a FACE Act defendant from the same ideological category within four months: fellow anti-abortion activist Mark Houck, whose 2022 arrest by an armed FBI team was similarly publicized, received a settlement of more than $1 million in April 2026.

Why we recorded this

Justice Department settlement authority exists to resolve legitimate liability claims, not to reward political allies with public money. Here DOJ paid a further seven-figure, undisclosed-amount settlement to a Trump-aligned FACE Act defendant only months after its own Weaponization Working Group report branded Biden-era FACE Act enforcement "selective prosecution" and fired the career prosecutors who had brought those cases — and after an identical settlement to fellow anti-abortion activist Mark Houck in April 2026. Repeated, undisclosed, seven-figure payouts to defendants who share one political alignment convert the Department's litigation power into a mechanism for rewarding allies rather than serving the public interest, eroding the evenhandedness the Justice Department is supposed to guarantee regardless of who holds power.

Sources

  1. First on Fox: Trump DOJ reaches settlement with pro-life protester targeted by Biden admin — Fox News primary accessed July 29, 2026
  2. Anti-abortion activist agrees to 7-figure settlement with Trump DOJ — MS NOW (Rachel Maddow Show Blog) secondary accessed July 29, 2026
  3. Pro-life protester targeted under Biden gets settlement with Trump Justice Department — WSET (The National Desk wire) secondary accessed July 29, 2026
  4. Justice Department Reveals the Biden Administration's Weaponization of Federal Law Against Pro-Life Americans — U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs primary accessed July 29, 2026
  5. Pro-life dad whose home was raided by FBI wins $1 mil settlement from DOJ — Fox News primary accessed July 29, 2026

See also