Todd Blanche for Attorney General?
Reason · RC · trust 42/100
Rescinding the egregious Slush Fund Order should not obscure the fact that Blanche was a central participant in, and possibly the architect of, a scheme to defraud the court and the American taxpayer. The one job he is surely not qualified for is the one he now seeks.
Todd Blanche should not be the Attorney General of the United States, though it appears he is about to assume that office thanks to 50 Republican Senators* who are, it seems, going to confirm him for that position.
*As far as I am aware, Susan Collins is the only Republican Senator who has declared that she will vote against Blanche's nomination.
Senators Cronyn and Tillis withdrew their opposition when Blanche issued an order formally rescinding his earlier order setting up an "Anti-Weaponization Fund" as part of the "Settlement Agreement" reached between the IRS and our President, and limiting the "immunity" from tax liability granted to Trump and his children and associates by declaring that it only "applies retroactiviely."
The idea that this somehow is sufficient to warrant an appointment to be the chief federal law enforcement officer truly boggles the mind. The Settlement Agreement and the Anti-Weaponization Fund weren't just bad ideas; they were an attempt to perpetrate a fraud on the court and the American taxpayers, "ignor[ing] ethical norms, court rules, and legal authority to manipulate the judicial process [in order to] gild their efforts to gain unprecedented access to the public fisc with the patina of legitimacy."
Those are not my words; they are the words of Judge Kathleen Williams of SD Florida, in her July 13th Order imposing sanctions on the parties (our President and the I.R.S.) and the attorneys involved in the case (including Acting AG Blanche and Associate AG Stanley Woodward, as well as Daniel Epstein, signatory to the bogus "Settlement Agreement" as Counsel for the Plaintiffs).
More excerpts from Judge Williams' opinion are included below. Though her opinion is long (56 pages) and detailed, in the end she doesn't really uncover anything that wasn't already obvious to anyone who followed the whole "Settlement" shitshow at all closely:
"This action was never about a party seeking judicial resolution of a legal issue or a factual dispute. The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law . . . ."
"This lawsuit was not brought to vindicate rights; it was brought to manipulate the judicial process to pursue benefits unavailable in litigation because the Parties were not adverse" . . . .
"Plaintiffs improperly employed this lawsuit to justify a particular award in this matter—access to taxpayer funds and exemption from audits and other investigations—which was accomplished by leveraging control over Defendants. . . The Parties used the existence of federal litigation as a means of conferring legitimacy upon a course of action that they were unwilling to subject to judicial review . The context of the "settlement," the relationships of the people involved in negotiating and approving it, the ethical implications of their conduct, and the Parties' swift efforts to dismiss this case after the Court raised fundamental jurisdictional questions all support this conclusion. Accordingly, the Court expressly finds that Plaintiffs acted in bad faith.
Todd Blanche was a major participant in this fraudulent scheme (and was probably the one who dreamed it up).**
**Part of Judge Williams' sanctions order directed "the Clerk of Court to mail a copy of this Order to the State Bar of New York, of which Acting Attorney General Blanche is a member (No. 4192456), [and] where disciplinary proceedings are currently ongoing." As far as I am aware, Blanche has not indicated that he will appeal, nor has he formally contested any of Judge Williams' findings.
We could perhaps have a reasonable disagreement about whether this would disqualify him for, say, appointment as Ambassador to Luxembourg, or Assistant Undersecretary of Commerce. But Attorney General of the United States?
With all due respect to Sens. Cronyn and Tillis, rescinding the Slush Fund Order** doesn't change the historical facts: this is the man who tried his best to defraud the federal court and, unltimately, the American people. Surely, the one job in the United States for which he is not qualified is the one the Senate is, unless a few more Republicans can find their backbones, about to give him.
"The Complaint purports to present a controversy between Plaintiffs—President Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, LLC— and Defendants—the Internal Revenue Service and United States Treasury Department—claiming Defendants caused Plaintiffs reputational and financial harm for which they now seek "at least $10,000.000,000.00." At first glance, the Complaint seemingly satisfies Article III by establishing causes of action "arising under . . . the laws of the United States[.]" However, closer examination reveals that a justiciable case or controversy is absent; Plaintiffs and Defendants are not adverse, because one party controls this litigation .
Plaintiffs improperly employed this lawsuit to justify a particular award in this matter—access to taxpayer funds and exemption from audits and other investigations—which was accomplished by leveraging control over Defendants. . . .
"[Plaintiffs] filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit asserting claims that they knew, or should have known, were time-barred and for an amount of damages unsupported by facts or law. Plaintiffs could make no connection between the billions of dollars they sought, and the recovery authorized under the governing statute. See 26 U.S.C. §…
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