Todd Blanche is unfit to serve as attorney general

At his confirmation hearing, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress a bald-faced lie. 

In the aftermath of President Trump’s effort to set up a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) pressed Blanche about whether he would commit to fighting any future claims for compensation from pardoned defendants involved in the January 6 Capitol riot. Blanche responded, “I can tell you we always vigorously defend our cases.”

I don’t know about January 6 defendants, but that’s certainly not true when it comes to President Trump himself.

The fund in question came to be out of a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Trump, claiming that the government was liable for releasing his tax information. The settlement, signed by Blanche himself, included a provision barring the government from prosecuting or pursuing any claims “known or unknown” against Trump, his companies, and his family members for anything that occurred prior to May 19, 2026. Tax returns are specifically mentioned.  

This extraordinary and unprecedented auto-settlement is simply a presidential self-pardon by the back door. 

As acting attorney general, Blanche didn’t defend this case vigorously. He didn’t defend this case at all. The government settled with Trump without filing an answer or raising any defenses, not even what appears to be a slam-dunk claim that the case should have been thrown out because the statute of limitations had expired. 

This is all as bad as it sounds. The judge in the case........

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