Mr. Blanche Gets His Hearing

Sunday night I wrote to you that Todd Blanche was the worst nominee to be attorney general in the modern era. Today, he demonstrated why. But because we live in an era of performance, where form outweighs substance, it will be the chin up defender of the president who will likely be seen on Fox News and similar.

Blanche portrayed himself as pious, at least when it came to worshipping at the altar of Trump. He defended the politicization of the Justice Department that has occurred on his watch and ducked questions that would have required him to criticize Trump if he answered them truthfully. That was the theme. Blanche had to hold onto the votes of Senate Republicans without angering the president. He did that well.

He did not face the question that stumped Director of National Intelligence nominee Jay Clayton, whose confirmation hearing also took place today:

Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff: Who won the 2020 election?

Clayton: I’m not going to get into that with you.

Most senators might have let it go at that. The non-answer is telling. But not Senator Ossoff. Here’s how he followed up after Clayton again refused to answer the question:

Ossoff: Isn't it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president's delusions?

We are all Jon Ossoff tonight.

Blanche, too, had his share of non-answers. Like when Senator Dick Durbin asked whether he thought it was right for Trump to issue a blanket pardon to the January 6 defendants. Blanche responded that “the Constitution gives the president the full power to pardon anybody for any reason he wants, and so I, I don’t question President Trump’s authority or his decision to do so on January 20.” The answer was completely non-responsive.

Durbin never found out Blanche’s personal view on whether what Trump did was right because, despite repeated questioning, he ducked the question. Instead, he continued to hide behind the formulaic legal response that, as president, Trump has the authority to pardon anyone he chooses.

That’s true. But Blanche’s failure to respond provides important information. It’s an easy question. Should people who overran the Capitol, some of whom attacked law enforcement, be held accountable, or should they be given a pass? If you want to be the attorney general and you can’t answer that simple question, that’s all one needs to know. The Republican Party of George Bush or Ronald Reagan would have rejected a nominee who did what Blanche did. It’s not difficult.

Blanche doesn’t have the right stuff for the job. And that’s because Donald Trump doesn’t want someone with the right stuff. In fact, he desperately needs someone without it. Someone who will create a slush fund and a settlement agreement that lets the president skittle out from underneath a mountain of tax debt. Someone who will treat Epstein survivors with disrespect, refusing to meet with them personally because “they have lawyers” (that’s no bar) and trying to pass them off to his staff. Someone who will pretend that Jeffrey Epstein didn’t traffic them to anyone beyond himself despite Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction and a record that is replete with references to other men, most notably Prince Andrew.

Todd Blanche is one thing and one thing only: Donald Trump’s lawyer. He said so today in a moment of unintentional candor, with his guard down during some friendly fire from Louisiana Republican John Kennedy, who was trying to set up one of his faux folksy moments.

Senator Kennedy asked, “Are you and Trump friends?” Blanche appeared to be caught off guard, spontaneously responding, “I’m his lawyer,” before correcting himself: “I was his lawyer.”

Blanche had confirmed the suggestion planted by Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking member, during his opening statement before the questioning began. Blanche, Durbin said, “Has shown he’s still Trump’s personal attorney.” Durbin said Blanche loved Trump more than the Constitution, referring to the time Blanche said he’d tell Trump, “I love you, sir,” if Trump declined to select him as Pam Bondi’s replacement. Durbin concluded by asking, “Is there anything Todd Blanche wouldn’t do for his former client Donald Trump?” It appears the answer is no.

There was more, but that’s the most telling among the exchanges. That’s the takeaway. Todd Blanche is Donald Trump’s man, not a public servant. And yet, the attorney general is supposed to represent the interests of the United States without regard for who the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is. That’s not to be naive about the relationship between presidents and their attorneys general. But Blanche’s open protestations of love and allegiance should be too far in everyone’s book, as should his role in the revenge prosecutions of Trump’s attorneys and putting his name on the settlement in the tax case that exempted Trump from any liability for failing to pay taxes, among other benefits. The same is true of revealing the identities of Epstein survivors while redacting information about perpetrators. Todd Blanche doesn’t have to answer every question. His actions and his non-answers speak loudly enough.

The Senate should not, but more than likely will, confirm Todd Blanche. Trump, as I’ve said before, has his Roy Cohn, his protector. That’s not supposed to be the attorney general’s job.

Many thanks to those of you who support my work with your paid subscriptions. You make it possible for me to devote days like today to watching what’s happening in real time and reporting on it. If you’re not yet a paid subscriber but you think this kind of reporting is valuable, I hope you’ll become one. Join our community of people who care and believe that the civics education we do at Civil Discourse matters. There are plenty of places to find opinions. My goal is to give you something different, based on 25 years of experience at DOJ: the context, the record, and the legal analysis that make sense out of the chaos so we can decide what to do about it and make a difference.

We’re in this together,

Joyce

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