1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, starts his job interview for AG in the Senate this Wednesday. This nomination would never have happened in the America gone by. But now we’re so innured to corruption in every facet of the Trump administration it’s expected he’ll get a cakewalk. And the approval will be couched in glowing terms, contrary to any reality, by mealy-mouthed Senators too far gone around the bend of their oaths of office to care what happens to the country they’re supposed to protect. A few highlights they’ll be voting to support… Under Blanche, the DOJ signed off on Trump’s $1.776B slush fund, i.e. taxpayer reward money for convicted insurgents, before lawsuits forced him to walk it back. Even worse was the “settlement agreement” Blanche personally signed off on, which would let Trump Inc. walk away from unpaid tax liability. And avoid any further investigation. Blanche dropped the prosecution of additional Epstein co-conspirators. A series of 2019 emails between DOJ prosecutors working on the case revealed that 10 unnamed “co-conspirators” of Epstein and Maxwell were under investigation. But none were ever charged. Deputy AG Blanche told us there was no evidence in the Epstein Files that supported additional charges. Contrary to all public evidence. Blanche oversaw the botched release of the Epstein files.The release was incomplete. There was withholding of key material. And it protected perpetrators and predators while doxxing survivors. And currently seems to be defying a court order to produce further Epstein files. Blanche personally interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell. And appears to have participated in her transfer to a 4-star prison she shouldn’t have been eligible for. After she made favorable statements about Donald Trump. The AG’s job is to protect victims. Not a convicted sex trafficker. But that is exactly what Blanche did. And now there’s news that DOJ is involved in shutting down a New Mexico state investigation into Epstein’s ranch. Blanche testified at his first confirmation hearing that he wouldn’t let politics hold sway at DOJ. Ha. He’s done nothing but execute Trump’s revenge agenda. He’s overseen indictments against Jim Comey. And the ongoing investigation in the Southern District of Florida into the president’s perceived enemies like former CIA Director John Brennan. And the recent prosecution of a former Olympian who put his hands into the Reflecting Pool. Instead of directing prosecutors to decline all of these problematic cases they’ve instead pursued them to the point where multiple judges have been highly critical of the DOJ. This loss of credibility is epic. All that while failing to pursue investigation into the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. He’s remained silent as ICE violates the 4th Amendment. Blanche did nothing to support DOJ personnel, including prosecutors and agents, when the WH fired them because of cases they’d been assigned to work on. Or because of who their family members were. Further, more than 1200 former federal prosecutors oppose the nomination, an unprecedented development. The Blanche nomination will show if Congress has any backbone left. Is an independent DOJ something that still matters to them? After a June meeting with Blanche, outgoing Texas Senator John Cornyn spoke favorably about him. But said he wanted to hear more about Blanche’s role in Trump’s slush fund. Ahead of that meeting, Cornyn told reporters he was “interested in hearing how he [Blanche] would approach the job, because he was President Trump’s lawyer at one time, but if he’s AG, he won’t be the president’s lawyer.” We all know that is utter nonsense. We know precisely how Blanche will approach the job because he’s been doing it since Trump forced Pam Bondi out. Senator Cornyn, a lawyer who served as both a justice on the Texas Supreme Court and the AG of Texas before going to the Senate, has all the information he needs to reach the only responsible conclusion. As does every other Senator. Any vote to proceed would be a travesty and a mockery of our legal system. To pretend otherwise is hypocrisy on steroids. Blanche should not be confirmed. Not now. Not ever.