Craven and Inadequate Deal, Blanche Must Not Be Our New Attorney General
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General on Tuesday, after Blanche’s Department of Justice (DOJ) reached an agreement with Republican Senator John Cornyn with a stated goal of rescinding the corrupt $1.8 billion slush fund intended to pay Trump’s cronies and January 6th rioters and limiting his new tax immunity.
In response to the news, Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert issued the following statement:
“The late-night deal reached between the DOJ and the Republican Senators who had been objecting to the Blanche nomination is clearly a face-saving exercise to try to get the Senators to ‘yes’ on that nomination, not real limitations on pro-Trump cronyism. President Trump gets to keep tax immunity for himself, his sons and the Trump Organization, potentially saving the President millions in taxes owed to the American people.
“And on the slush fund itself, Trump has not waived his rights under the scheme that called on Blanche to establish the fund, and nothing prevents Blanche from simply reestablishing it if the Senate confirms him.
“In addition, nothing in what Blanche sent out prevents the DOJ from settling lawsuits brought by the January 6th rioters and other Trump cronies, and paying them out of the general fund. We saw a staggering seven-figure deal in that vein just last week.
“And if the inadequate deal on the slush fund and Trump tax immunity wasn’t enough to stop this unfit nominee, his horrifying lack of empathy and ineptitude when it comes to the Epstein files and the way he has engaged with the victims should disqualify him instantly.
“Whatever happens at the committee vote on Tuesday, there is still time to keep Trump’s fixer from becoming AG, to keep the DOJ from becoming solely a Trump revenge agency, and Senators must do the right thing and block Blanche before it is too late.”