1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Well, wasn’t that much ado about nothing? Todd Blanche has mollified two Republican senators into giving him their votes to move forward his AG nomination. Quel surprise. Blanche wrote a letter to them saying the 1/6 slush fund was dead. Which is what they’ve been saying, but the senators wanted it in writing. So they got it. And now all other concerns have gone with the wind. But it’s the second part of this whole dirty business that is of benefit to the guy who wants Blanche to have the AG job…the agreement between Trump and DOJ promising to drop any pending claims against Trump, his oldest sons, or the Trump Organization for past illegalities in tax returns. And promising not to conduct audits of Trump’s tax returns. Blanche signed his name to this agreement as acting AG. But as part of his say-anything-to-get-the-job process, he now agrees to retroactive IRS immunity, but not future immunity. Sweet deal regardless don’t you think? So the two senators, regardless of their feeble attempts to assert power as they shuffle into the sunset, got the cover they needed to do what they know they shouldn’t. And this is what they’ll be voting for… DOJ has been caught repeatedly misleading grand juries or committing misconduct in getting indictments. A judge and former federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia had recently stated that “[g]enerations of presidential administrations and public officials” have reinforced the idea, called the “presumption of regularity,” that public officials do their jobs properly, operate in good faith, and follow correct procedures. But, the judge noted, “In just six months, the President of the United States may have forfeited the right to such a presumption.” Blanche has openly flouted the law in order to do Trump’s bidding. He secured indictments against people Trump perceives to be enemies. Even when the indictments used manipulated evidence and were laughed out of court. Secret Service agents who interviewed James Comey in search of indictment were told to send a summary of that interview as quickly as possible to Trump on Air Force One. Trump repeatedly said he wanted Comey indicted. With Blanche’s confirmation Trump will be even more involved in any and all federal law enforcement actions. So as their goodbye to the country, these two senators will be responsible for the further degradation of the DOJ. Responsible for turning an agency charged with defending the rule of law for the American people, into an instrument of Trump’s political wrath. Final analysis for today, and every day to come until the American people say ENOUGH… “We have actual adults in positions of immense power bickering over a clearly made-up story about pool vandals, a story that led to an innocent American having his life turned upside down by the government.  We have a war stuck in an endless loop with zero confidence that the liar in chief is capable of finding a way out. And we have daily embarrassments on the domestic front and the international stage, thanks to unqualified hacks who know survival under the clothes-less King Trump requires slavish fealty and relentless lying. Put simply, this stinks. And it’s not going to get better. The Reflecting Pool debacle could have and should have been dealt with swiftly and put to bed. But it has been going on for months, and it keeps getting stupider. Welcome to America in the second Trump presidency. Please excuse our mess.”