In what appears to be a capitulation to demands by Senate Republicans fed up with the wannabe fascist dictatorship of convicted felon Donald J. Trump, Attorney General nominee Todd Blanch submitted a signed promise to kill a $1.8 billion slush fund and offered some modifications to a questionable immunity deal that would benefit the disgraced president and his family.
The moves by Blanche might allow confirmation of his nomination on Judiciary Committee votes on Tuesday and then the full Senate before the body adjourns for its annual August recess.
Questions, however, remain.
As MS Now reports:
In The New York Times, Michael Gold, Andrew Duehren and Hari Raj report:
Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, confirmed in writing on Sunday night that the Justice Department would abandon elements of the deal it struck with President Trump to resolve his lawsuit against the I.R.S., conceding to demands from Republican senators who had threatened to block his nomination as attorney general.
The Republican holdouts, Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, had vowed that they would not confirm Mr. Blanche for the role unless he provided written assurances that the Justice Department had formally killed a planned $1.8 billion fund to pay those who claim they were unfairly persecuted by the government.
The senators also insisted that Mr. Blanche narrow the scope of the sweeping immunity from I.R.S. scrutiny that was granted to Mr. Trump, his family and their businesses under the same agreement.
Mr. Blanche posted two documents on social media on Sunday night: a signed memo in which he said that the Justice Department was formally rescinding an order that created the so-called “anti-weaponization fund” and an unsigned statement in which the agency clarified the terms of the I.R.S. protections.
Mr. Blanche’s announcement comes just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote to advance his nomination on Tuesday, and could potentially clear his path to be confirmed.
“My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions,” Mr. Blanche wrote. “We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Cornyn, Natalie Yezbick, said in a statement that Mr. Cornyn had reached an agreement with the Justice Department that included a “formal order permanently terminating the fund” and a “binding written document” limiting the scope of the audit settlement. Representatives for Mr. Tillis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Blanche posted the documents after days of negotiations over his confirmation. Though the senators had been negotiating with Mr. Blanche in a bid to end the impasse, Mr. Trump in recent days had complicated their efforts by pushing publicly for the restoration of the fund.
“Todd Blanche was a voice of reason! It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media on Saturday. He added that he would keep Mr. Blanche, his former defense lawyer, as acting attorney general if the Senate failed to confirm him.
Mr. Trump’s comments appeared to validate the senators’ fears. In a social media post, Mr. Tillis wrote that Mr. Trump “clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks either by inappropriately establishing another bogus fund or pushing Congress to vote for a bill that the majority of Republicans in the Senate would be against.”
Though Mr. Blanche promised lawmakers during his confirmation hearing that the fund was dead, Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Tillis had urged him to take that position in writing.
In his social media post, Mr. Blanche included a copy of a memo establishing that the $1.8 billion fund “is rescinded and shall have no force or effect.”
“Although the Acting Attorney General has repeatedly advised Congress through testimony, including under oath, as well as in written responses, that the Fund is not moving forward, and the Department has repeatedly represented to district courts that the Fund is not moving forward, today’s order officially rescinds the May 18, 2026 order,” read a statement from the attorney’s general office also posted by Mr. Blanche on Sunday.
Mr. Blanche posted a second statement saying that only Mr. Trump, two of his sons and the Trump Organization would be immune from audits, excluding a broader pool of Trump family members and their associates who appeared to be eligible for protection under the original Justice Department deal. Mr. Blanche also stipulated that their future tax returns could still be audited — another one of Mr. Cornyn’s demands.
Some Republican Senate aides say Blanche’s actions must be taken with skepticism. They feel Blanche acts like the Department Justice is a “personal law firm of a tarnished president” and has no respect the law or the constitution which directs that the agency represent the people and not a elected leader.
Polls show more than 60 percent of Republicans feel Trump of “corrupt” and “unqualified to lead the nation” and his job approval has fallen to record lows for an incumbent president.
Writes columnist Rex Huppke in USA Today:
Hey, do you all remember “Sleepy Joe” Biden, the president whose age and cognitive decline Donald Trump and his plague of MAGA lemmings routinely mocked?
Well, I have some news. In a living example of turnabout being fair play, 79-year-old President Trump himself is now viewed by a majority of Americans as being mentally and physically unfit to lead.
A recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that 60% of Americans believe Trump isn’t mentally sharp enough to be president, and 55% think his physical health makes him unfit to lead.
Just a few months before Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race over concerns about his age, an AP-NORC poll found 63% were not confident he had the mental capability to be president.
So that means Trump is right in Biden territory on the mental acuity front. Sleepy Joe, meet Babbling Don.
Trump, now 80, shows debilitating signs of dementia, unable to complete sentences, misidentifing names and locations and erupting in tyrannical rage at those who disagree with his unsteady and conflicting actions.
Notes Tom Moberly on BMJ Group:
Thirty US psychiatrists and other doctors specialising in mental health have signed a statement declaring President Donald Trump mentally unfit to serve, warning that his ability to launch nuclear weapons is a “danger” to the world.
The signatories say that Trump’s behaviour over the past year has shown “objectively observable signs of serious medical concern.”
They cited examples of his “marked deterioration in cognitive functioning,” “episodes of apparent somnolence during critical public proceedings,” “severely impaired judgment and impulse control,” and “significant loss of self-control,” as well as “grandiose and delusional beliefs, including assertions of infallibility, imagery of himself as Pope suggestive of a divine mission.”
The doctors called for Trump’s immediate removal from office, arguing that he presents a “clear and present danger” to the whole world.
“It is our expert opinion that Donald J Trump is mentally unfit to be the president of the United States.”
Unfit, severely impaired and a “clear and present danger” to the entire world. Pretty much wraps up what are the facts of this convicted felon and sexual predator.
