Blanche has screwed up, and the judge had no qualms about telling him so. Here, have a new episode of “Todd Blanche Makes A Mistake”, because that’s about what it is. He is making a mess all over the place, and can we name even one time where he did something right, even if he’s part of the maladministration? ….. anyone? Need extra time? .…. yea, me, either. Darn Todd, what’s the matter with you, boy? You’re batting zero, and the game is heating up! With respect for Raw Story:
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche asked a federal judge Monday (yes, I’m behind, but this is just SO good…) to spare him a $1,000-a-day fine, calling a contempt push against him “absurd.” Blanche is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by independent journalist Katie Phang, who has accused him of violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act — a law passed by Congress requiring the Department of Justice to release its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In June, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan sided with Phang, finding that Blanche had never disputed her core claims in court — that he missed the law’s release deadline, made improper redactions, and withheld documents the act required him to produce.
Okay, so here we are again with Blanche not doing what he has been told. Just about everyone knows about the Epstein *Law* and that the DoJ is bound to release everything … which they are nowhere close to doing. It’s been all bullsht all the time. We can’t do this, we can’t do that, and so on ad nauseum. The DoJ couldn’t even make the first deadline, which was 30 days after the law took effect. They could have released *something*, but no. Blondi immediately went into the obfuscate-delay, delay, delay, just like Trump does. She should have seen the way the wind was blowing, and she didn’t. Well, now she’s gone, and never-get-anything-done-Todd-Blanche is in the house, and things will be better … no, worse. Sheesh! He can’t even do it right for a simple court case! I wonder if they still have the 1,000 FBI agents going through and redacting.
Sullivan ordered Blanche to produce, among other materials, handwritten FBI interview notes from agents who spoke with a woman accusing President Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her as a minor, emails to Epstein with sender names unredacted, and documents naming potential co-conspirators. In court filings, Phang proposed the judge slap Blanche with sanctions of $1,000 a day until he complied. In his Monday reply brief, Blanche called Phang’s legal filings full of “hyperbolic rhetoric seeking to impose punitive sanctions” and “outlandish claims.” He called her contempt argument “absurd” and labeled her factual assertions “sensational and unsubstantiated.”
“At no point has the government tried to argue that it followed the law,” said Brendan Ballou, founder of the Public Integrity Project, which represents Phang, adding that the government had not defended its conduct in court. “Which is a pretty shocking position to take.” Instead, Blanche’s brief closed with three requests: no contempt or sanctions, the ability to immediately appeal any ruling, and a pause to pursue that appeal.
Pardon me while my eyes roll back in my head. Going on the attack with Judge Sullivan is not a bright idea. And the things he demanded? Get outta here! Wow, must be (not) nice to have an ego like that. Sounds like Blanche is telling the judge what to do when it is most certainly the other way around! This is twice in two days I’ve been at a loss for the right words. You folks ought to write these dates down since it doesn’t happen very often ahahaha! Alrighty, here’s a but more and we’ll close.
Blanche previously served as Trump’s personal defense attorney in two federal criminal cases — the classified documents case and the January 6 election obstruction case — and one state criminal case, the Manhattan hush-money trial. Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi in April and elevated Blanche to replace her. That conflict sat at the heart of the Phang lawsuit, and Ballou did not mince words about it after Sullivan’s June ruling. “The government ignored its own law and blew off a judge’s order, all for the sake of protecting the very powerful and the very rich,” Ballou said. Sullivan has not yet ruled on whether to hold Blanche in contempt.
That’s not exactly a good sign when you’re trying to become AG. I wish I knew more law because I think it’s a problem with Blanche being Trump’s personal lawyer and now the AG of America. Blanche is trying to slide out of this court case, and if I can see it, the judge *has* to know about it. They are probably into Senate questioning of Blanche, at a guess. I was just far too amused by Blanche “begging”.
See you tomorrow!
Friends, I know everybody begs you for money. I promise you that, of all the outlets bugging you for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a bunch of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. But the rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the ability to continue our quest to tell the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
I love that Katie Phang is going after him for not doing his job! I also love that the judge is not buying is baloney. We need some mainstream reporting on this.
The DOJ’s mishandling of the files really needs to be held to account and publicly.