That (now) Attorney General Todd Blanche lied to Senators, specifically certain GOP Senators shouldn’t surprise anyone. A few of them wanted some specific promises before dropping their opposition and agreeing to confirm him. It should be noted that Blanche never put anything in writing – comments on social media don’t count. However during his confirmation and in private meetings with Thom Tillis, John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy, as well as others who had doubts but hadn’t publicly voiced concerns Blanched promised he wouldn’t act as Trump’s personal lawyer. Which I should add he literally was prior to Trump starting his second term. Why do I say Blanche LIED? Within hours after being sworn in the DOJ issued a stunningly sweeping finding that Executive Privilege extends to Private citizen’s discussions/advice to the President!
Executive Privilege has been an issue debated and litigated since the early years after our Constitution was ratified. Over time and via legal (including at the SCOTUS level) it’s come to be understood to cover communications between a President and actual government employees – Cabinet officials, White House staff (on the payroll as assistants to the President in some fashion) etc. It has NOT applied to private citizens no matter how rich or powerful (looking at YOU Elon!), at least until now. However, as Raw Story reports now it does. As I said, the opinion that effectively gives a new and broad immunity to Trump and people he wants to protect and cripples Congress’ Constitutional powers for oversight:
The opinion, issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, argues that executive privilege — the legal shield that lets presidents keep internal advice secret — extends to private citizens who advise the president.
The Senate confirmed Blanche 50-49 after key Republican holdouts won written assurances about the Justice Department’s independence.
Those assurances were the price of confirmation.
That last part really sticks out. Those “assurances” were not specific statements Blanche was forced to make under oath, or in an affidavit submitted under the ‘pain and penalty of perjury’ so just I (and you and frankly those Senators) knew Blanche would turn right around and do what we feared. Act as Trump’s personal defense lawyer and use the entire DOJ to the same end. (Not to mention using it to go after Trump’s enemies!) Cornyn justified supporting Blanche in the end while speaking to The National Review saying they needed leadership at DOJ to control ‘the chaos and dysfunction over there’, and that Blanche was pretty much as ‘good’ as they could hope for. I call bullshit. The bottom line is that the trio of Senators I mentioned earlier (and others) know Trump is losing approval and influence with the public. Still, Republicans are scared to death of him and don’t want him trashing them on social media or in gaggles with reporters.
The entire confirmation process was a cynical sham. Tillis and Cornyn in particular made such a big show about opposing Blanche but I for one kept looking at the ‘loophole’ in their statements of opposition and knew all along that in the end Blanche would say the magic words they wanted to hear. And that while those magic words would be lies spoken with a forked tongue it would do the trick. That was enough to provide cover to Cassidy (and others) so Blanche was confirmed.
Then Blanche turned right around and showed how he’d played them for fools. Gutless fools in fact. That this new Executive Privilege order was released mere hours after being sworn in was Blanche publicly crotch-punting the lot of them. Clearly it had been already written and there’s some important context as last week there was some serious legal skirmishing over Trump pal Boris Epshteyn’s refusal to cooperate with investigators:
It must have been prepared beforehand (when Blanche was acting AG) but even republican senators might have been spooked by such claims,” University of Maryland legal historian Holly Brewer wrote on Bluesky.
Politico reporter Josh Gerstein noted the opinion arrived as courts are already fighting over demands for testimony from outside Trump advisers — specifically Boris Epshteyn.
National security journalist Marcy Wheeler noted that Epshteyn, who holds no government job, reportedly had his Russia ties scrutinized when he left Trump’s first-term White House and faced pay-to-play allegations during the 2024 transition.
Epshteyn and pro-MAGA podcaster Steve Bannon are named in active court filings as secret operatives in a White House scheme to pressure major law firms, Raw Story previously reported.
This explains the push to get Blanche confirmed before the August recess. Trump leaned on Senate Majority Leader Thune who then leaned on the ‘holdouts’ and the sham of a conformation got done. Sure, this new immunity for Trump and his pals will be headed to court but in the end it’s going to take SCOTUS weighing in to settle the matter. It could literally take a year or more, and possibly until Trump is no longer President before it’s settled. That’s the point. Trump has enough problems without some awfully sleazy stuff regarding Epshteyn (and don’t forget Bannon, and others) coming out. Also, with the midterms fast approaching the GOP itself including the Senate is facing some serious headwinds due to their not standing up to Trump.
This whole thing stinks to high heaven. The Trump stench keeps spreading and via Todd Blanche now running DOJ I fear the entire building will need to be razed, the area sterilized and then rebuilt. Blanche has made GOP Senators and three in particular look like gullible fools. The only reason I don’t say the ARE is that I truly believe that they knew all along Blanche’s promises to be independent were bullshit. Or turds taken from the bowl of Trump’s fake gold toilet.
Blanche had a profound and sweeping legal opinion protecting Trump ready before his confirmation vote even took place. Is there anyone who’d read this that does NOT believe that the day after the midterms Blanche will re-issue the infamous Slush Fund/Trump (and family) Tax Amnesty legal opinion?
