Blanche Pantsed By Trump Rants

"I love you, sir!"

White House Flickr

When left alone with his phone, President Trump does tend to light himself — and the planet! — on fire. And so it was on Saturday that the world’s most dangerous octogenarian rolled over at 7:32am and posted this clunker.

After a performative kick to the two Republican Senators he’s relying on to move Todd Blanche’s nomination out of the Judiciary Committee, Trump vowed to revive the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.”

This is rather awkward because the entire leadership of the Justice Department, including Acting Attorney General Blanche, spent the past two months assuring multiple courts and both Houses of Congress that the J6 slush fund is deader than disco. The fund is so totally moribund that forcing them to attest to its demise would be rank surplusage — an exercise so useless that it would offend the dignity of any official forced to participate in it.

And now, after all that, Trump is promising to “get it done” after all.

Shams upon shams

The so-called “Anti-Weaponization Fund” was born out of a so-called “lawsuit” over the wrongful disclosure of Trump’s tax returns in 2020 by an IRS contractor. The complaint is hopelessly time-barred, since the statute of limitations is two years from the date of discovery. Nevertheless, Trump purported to “settle” with his own administration for the low-low price of $1.776 billion for his January 6 pals, plus a sweeping grant of immunity for any tax crimes he and his family might have committed.

Judge Kathleen Williams found the suit was akin to a fraud on the court, referred Trump’s lawyer Alejandro Brito to the state bar for potential sanctions, and barred the government from referring to the fund as a “settlement,” which would imply a judicial imprimatur which does not exist. In Virginia, Judge Leonie Brinkema enjoined the government from operationalizing the settlement or “reconstituting the Anti-Weaponization Fund under a different name.” The fund was so politically toxic that Republicans in Congress held up funding for ICE until he agreed to 86 it. And for weeks Blanche has been trying to convince Tillis and Cornyn that he really has put an end to this boondoggle so they’ll agree to vote him out of the Judiciary Committee.

Naturally president chose this moment to weigh in.

“The President made it clear today that the so-called Anti Weaponization Fund is still alive, which is exactly why we are attempting to formally end it,” Tillis tweeted, warning that “Anyone who attacked law enforcement should still be in prison, not getting a check from the federal government.”

A death greatly exaggerated

Ever since they supposedly killed the slush fund, Blanche has been dodging demands to issue a written death certificate.

“Why do I need to put something in writing if I’m telling you what we’re doing?” he huffed at a House hearing, sneering that “I think there will be a transcript of what I say here, so that will be in writing.”

A week later, Judge Brinkema offered to dismiss the case filed by potential fund claimants if the government would produce sworn declarations from Blanche, Associate AG Stanley Woodward, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attesting that the fund is really and truly dead. Instead Woodward filed a wildly inappropriate response, accusing the judge of violating the separation of powers by compelling testimony from Cabinet officials. He howled that DOJ’s in-court declarations already carried “serious penalties for falsity” under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 — a statute that, as Judge Brinkema noted, does not apply to statements made in judicial proceedings.

Blanche came closest to a sworn declaration at his July 15 confirmation hearing.

“It is a moot issue, meaning there is no weaponization fund. The weaponization fund is dead. It’s not moving forward,” he told the Committee.

But note that this is a carefully worded statement of present intent, not a guarantee of future performance — Blanche or his successor could simply change his mind and decide to move forward tomorrow. And, as Senator Cornyn forced him to concede, a settlement agreement can’t be unilaterally canceled by one side.

“They could potentially say that, I suppose, that we breached by not moving forward. They haven't done that and I'm not aware that they're planning on doing that,” Blanche admitted, before catching himself.

“Even if we were litigating it, there's no fund. So the results of such litigation, whatever it would be, wouldn't be revival of the fund,” he added quickly.

The guy who voluntarily agreed to lose a lawsuit to Donald Trump on behalf of the federal government pinky promises that it absolutely, positively won’t happen if his boss decides to sue again! Or if the boss decides to simply order the Treasury to disburse the money without trying to get a federal judge to sign off on it.

And, right on cue …

“What it suggests to me is they are looking for an out to do something different than what Todd Blanche testified to at his hearing, and that’s a problem” Cornyn told NBC.

“Senator Cornyn and I have been working with Acting AG Todd Blanche to end the Anti Weaponization Fund, and he has been forthright, thoughtful and patient,” Tillis tweeted on Friday in response to Trump’s post. “It’s a shame his confirmation has hit a snag only because an incompetent personal advisor to the President refuses to amend the bogus settlement.”

Darn you, “incompetent personal advisor” hanging around with the president at 7:32am on a Saturday and giving him such lousy advice!