FOCUS ON BLANCHE NEEDS TO BE TARGETED & DISCIPLINED
AN UNWORTHY ATTORNEY GENERAL
FOCUS
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There may not have been a more ethically challenged Attorney General nominee than Todd Blanche.
As Deputy Attorney General, he has been the main force at an unscrupulous Justice Department from covering up the investigation into sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein to blatantly partisan indictments that were rejected by grand juries to cutting an unprecedented sweetheart deal enabling Donald Trump and his family to avoid sizeable tax bills.
There are two reasons this tarnished nominee. who faces the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing today, still could be confirmed. One is most Senate Republicans, who command a 53 to 47 majority, regularly vote in lockstep with Trump’s wishes.
The other is the opposition, in this case ten Democrats on the Judiciary panel, historically have lacked focus and discipline in these showdowns.
There are a handful of smart former prosecutors among these Democrats and a couple lightweights, well maybe welterweights.
The highest priority is the Epstein scandal. Former Attorney General Pam Bondi said Epstein was Blanche’s account. He even participated in a secret meeting at the White House aimed at insulating Trump from the scandal.
Justice, contrary to congressional legislation, has only selectively released Epstein files sometimes with an eye to protecting Trump.
The one person who knows the most about the late pervert’s actions is his accomplice, convicted criminal, Ghislaine Maxwell. Blanche personally went to interview her with a design to clear Trump.
A few days later she was transferred to a more comfortable minimum security prison and given special privileges. This facility was supposed to be off limits to convicted sex offenders.
Blanche claimed he met with Epstein survivors; they say he has not. A number have called for Blanche’s rejection, one is scheduled to testify before the Judiciary committee.
The other priority, after Epstein, is the deal Blanche engineered with the IRS to set up a $1.8 billion slush fund for victims of government “weaponization.: After an outcry, Blanche backed down, said the fund was dead.
But the bigger deal was Blanche getting Trump and his family immunity from any tax audits of current or past filings. This was supposed to compensate for a leak of Trump’s tax returns for which he sued the agency for $10 billion. The suit was flawed, filed too late, and probably the most he could have gotten, under normal order, would have been an apology.
Instead Blanche gave Trump and family an unprecedented immunity from any current tax audits saving them, by some estimates, hundreds of millions.
A federal judge this week denounced the deal as improper, accused Blanche of “at best misleading and at worst disingenuous” testimony and forwarded her findings to appropriate attorney disciplinary bodies.
Senators, don’t focus on the slush fund, which could have been done without the deal. Blanche will claim it’s moot, which may or may not be true.
All your questions should be about the unprecedented and sleazy, Trump tax deal, following the judge’s decision and a petition by more than 30 former federal judges, Republicans and Democrats, denouncing the Blanche deal.
Maybe just a few questions on political efforts , under Trump’s orders, to bring frivolous criminal cases against his enemies.
If this all goes as expected, confirmation probably will come down to five Republicans. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski who has been willing to stand up to Trump pressure, and Maine’s Susan Collins facing a tough reelection. Then it would be up to three GOP Senators in their final months: Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and if he returns from hospitalization, Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell.
The stakes are high: the rule of law.