The Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Todd Blanche’s confirmation as Attorney General has been postponed, and the reason is as simple as it is revealing: Senator John Cornyn won’t vote yes until Blanche commits in writing that the $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund is dead. Blanche won’t do that. So… yeah, here we are.
The Anti-Weaponization Fund is a slush fund personally created by Blanche earlier this year as part of a deal to drop Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. It was designed to draw $1.8 billion from the Treasury’s Judgment Fund, money ordinarily used to pay court judgments against the federal government, to compensate people claiming they were wronged by the government, a category that included January 6 rioters. The fund drew immediate bipartisan condemnation for a number of reasons, not least its eligibility criteria. A federal judge opened an inquiry into whether DOJ had committed fraud on the court and ordered Blanche to file a declaration under penalty of perjury that the fund would not proceed. DOJ refused. Blanche has said in sworn testimony and in private meetings with senators that the fund is dead, but has declined every single opportunity to say so in a signed document.
Cornyn, who lost his primary to Trump-backed Ken Paxton and has approximately zero fucks left to give, has been clear since jump that his vote is contingent on written commitments: that the fund is dead, that audit immunity doesn’t extend beyond the original lawsuit, and that it doesn’t extend to future actions by federal agencies beyond the IRS. These are not sweeping demands. They are, as Cornyn himself has noted, simply what Blanche already swore to under oath. “We actually sent them a red-line strikeout of what we need, and they just need to make a decision,” Cornyn told Politico earlier Wednesday, adding that he was “trying to make it easy for them.”
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Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, along with Tillis, met with Cornyn late Wednesday afternoon to try to break the impasse, and left without a resolution. “We made it clear that we need the language to move forward with the markup,” Tillis said after the meeting. A DOJ official said the department had sent “new language” to the two senators and remains “in discussion” with them. Grassley’s office struck a careful tone: “Chairman Grassley works to set President Trump’s nominees up for success in committee, not failure,” a spokesperson said. “Tomorrow’s markup is postponed as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report [Blanche], who is highly qualified for the job.” This really shouldn’t be this difficult, that is, IF the Trump slush fund is well and truly dead.
Even one Republican no vote on the Judiciary Committee is enough to prevent the nomination from advancing to the Senate floor, and Coryn and Tillis are simpatico on the issue. And with the Senate heading into recess at the end of next week, the clock is now a factor too, a rescheduled vote that doesn’t happen in time means Blanche’s confirmation limps into recess in an unresolved state.
The New York Times editorial board called Blanche unfit for office. Hundreds of DOJ alumni said he broke his oath. His own former SDNY colleagues won’t vouch for him. Bill Barr made the hostage-negotiation case for confirming him anyway. And now the confirmation is stalled because Blanche won’t write down what he swore to under oath.
At this point, the most logical inference to Blanche’s steadfast refusal to put this all in writing is that the slush fund just might make a reappearance. And Sens. Cornyn and Tillis seem very aware of what really going on.
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Earlier: Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Is Being Held Up By Todd Blanche
Todd Blanche’s Confirmation Strategy: Call Two Senate Judiciary Committee Members Liars
A Former DOJ Lawyer Testified Against Todd Blanche. Then The Death Threats Started.
DOJ Tries To End Slush Fund Suit By Telling Judge Brinkema To Get Bent. Fails.
The DOJ’s $1.8 Billion Slush Fund Has A Child Molester Problem
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1