GOP Senators Giving Trump His Carte Blanche Are Responsible for What Comes Next

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Todd Blanche paved the way for his confirmation as attorney general when he finally put in writing that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is voiding parts of the controversial settlement deal that Donald Trump struck with his own administration. Specifically, the assurances he reluctantly provided spell out, in turgid lawyerese, that the “Presidential Slush Fund to Reward People Who Committed Crimes on His Behalf*” is supposedly off the table. 

That it took sustained pressure from two GOP holdouts — Sens. John Cornyn (TX) and Thom Tillis (NC) — for Blanche to salvage his nomination in this way suggests this won’t be the last we see of Trump’s attempts to use taxpayer funds to line the pockets of insurrectionists and others who ran afoul of the law while doing his bidding.

Of course, when we say “sustained pressure,” we don’t mean actual pressure, just what passes as such when Republican senators pretend to take a principled position and oppose the president for a few days before folding. 

In this case, real pressure would have meant that Cornyn and Tillis had used their considerable leverage to ensure that the entire Trump/IRS/DOJ sweetheart deal was dead, as in shot, stabbed, strangulated, and run over a few times with a truck before being burned and buried. 

But before we get into what will happen when the slush fund is resuscitated and who will deserve the blame for it, we first have to issue a mea culpa.

Like others in the media, we have referred to Blanche as “Trump’s former personal attorney.” We did so because that is factually correct, and being accurate is obviously extremely important. 

However, this is one of the many cases in which literal accuracy is a pitfall.

To illustrate what we mean, take the term “campaign donation.” When a retired school teacher gives $20 to a Senate candidate, that’s a campaign donation. This person expects nothing in return for their money, they just want to see someone elected who shares their values. 

However, when Elon Musk gives $100 million to preserve the GOP majority in Congress, that’s not really a donation; that’s a bribe or a downpayment for services to be rendered in the future. 

It’s like that with Blanche. Yes, technically, he is no longer getting a paycheck from Trump** and, as attorney general, he is supposed to be the “people’s lawyer,” but, in reality, he still only has one client… and it ain’t the American people. 

Therefore, it is technically correct to refer to him as the president’s former attorney, but it’s also not accurate because he still serves only Trump. 

For example, as the people’s lawyer, Blanche would not have played any part in this sordid slush fund-IRS deal. As Trump’s de facto attorney, however, he made sure his client got exactly what he wanted when he filed that frivolous lawsuit at the start of this year. 

Or take the Epstein documents. The people’s lawyer would have ensured that all of the files were released in accordance with the law instead of trying to protect his real client, the pedophile’s former pal Donald Trump. 

Here is the thing: Every single one of the senators who is about to confirm Blanche is aware of this***. 

When they cast their votes, they will know that the DOJ won’t be headed by an impartial public servant but rather by a partisan hack who will either do the president’s dirty deeds himself or make sure Trump gets away with them. 

Which means that anybody who supports Blanche is complicit in what happens next.

Of all of the terrible nominees that Senate Republicans have waved through, he may be the worst.

Not because he is the most awful person or the least qualified (a dubious honor that might belong to former Fox News morning show host and war crime apologist Pete Hegseth), but rather because of the monumental difference between what an attorney general is supposed to be and what Blanche is. 

We’re not going to pretend that these senators will care. 

Once you confirm Russ Vought — a man who wrote the book on how to dismantle much of the government from within and weaponize what’s left — as director of management and budget, it’s pretty clear that you’ll rubberstamp just about anybody. 

However, we want to point out that none of them will be able to pretend that they couldn’t have seen it coming when the slush fund is revived, when the power of the DOJ is abused to go after Trump’s adversaries, and when Lady Justice is mauled. 

There was a time when senators deservedly gave presidents a wide latitude when it came to their nominees. Sure, the ideology of Cabinet-level officials would be aligned with that of whoever appointed them, but at least there could be a presumption of competence and an absence of malice. 

That is not the case under Trump, whose nominees are often ill-qualified for their official roles. We say “official” because their true purpose is to do whatever the president wants, which is why the only prerequisite for the job is unfailing loyalty. In other words, if you are not willing to lie, cheat, and steal for Trump (and, of course, endlessly flatter him), there is no need to apply.

Obviously, that’s not how things are supposed to go. A president isn’t supposed to surround himself with a bunch of inept accessories who turn a blind eye to any misdeed he commits. 

That is why the Constitution made sure that the Senate plays a role in this process. It is supposed to provide “advice and consent” to weed out miscreants… like Blanche, Hegseth, Vought, and dozens more from this list. RFK Jr., Pulte, Gabbard, Bondi, Patel, Duffy, Wright, Burgum, Loeffler, Oz, Dhillon, Colby come to mind, as well as a lot of judges and ambassadors. 

This close scrutiny of presidential appointees is supposed to be a core responsibility of the Senate, and Blanche’s upcoming confirmation is the best example of how it is failing in this important task. 

Cornyn and Tillis had the right idea, which is why they asked for written assurance that the attorney general would not partake in one of Trump’s most corrupt and despicable schemes.

But the fact that they could be placated with a piece of paper that will likely prove to be worthless in the end reflects as poorly on them as it does on the president and his lawyer. 

The alternative, of course, would have been to deny Blanche the nomination and pressure the president to come up with someone more suited for this august post.

*That’s not the official title but it might as well be.

**Since accuracy matters, it’s important to note that Blanche wasn’t actually paid by Trump himself but rather by the gullible dupes foolhardy enough to give money to the political action committee of a billionaire who doesn’t give two shits about them. 

***Well, perhaps not Tommy Tuberville, who is probably the biggest dolt to ever have served in the chamber, apart, perhaps, from Sen. Doofus Nobrain.