President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department appears to have stricken a deal with two Republican senators.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has agreed to sign off on an agreement officially rescinding the “anti-weaponization” fund that critics refer to as nothing more than a Trump slush fund.
Conservative commentator Bill Kristol cautioned in The Bulwark that agreeing to Blanche is a far worse outcome for Republicans.
“These assurances will presumably be enough for Blanche to make it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday on a straight party-line vote. He’s then likely — though not certain — to get the 50 votes he’ll need to be confirmed by the whole Senate, probably at the end of the week,” wrote Kristol.
He referred to Blanche as just another “lemon” in Trump’s Cabinet, but noted Democrats could make lemonade out of it.
“Trump’s polls have been sinking. Republicans are almost certain to lose the House this fall, and the Senate majority is up for grabs,” Kristol said. “Democratic control of both houses would help check Trump’s authoritarian schemes. And the fact that the entire Senate Republican conference will have to cast a high-visibility vote to confirm Todd Blanche can help in turning the Senate Democratic.”
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If the Blanche vote goes to the full Senate, without McConnell, Republicans can only have two defections to pass. He thinks that given the closeness of the election, Republicans could be willing to buck Trump’s demands.
“It’s possible there will be a revolt among a few GOP senators against this man who sought to shovel taxpayer money to the January 6th assailants, who has initiated and presided over blatantly political prosecutions and who was at the very center of the Jeffrey Epstein coverup,” said Kristol.
When it comes to Blanche on the Jeffrey Epstein documents, Kristal quoted Epstein survivor Dani Bensky, who wrote last week: “You can’t say that you want to make sure that sex offenders and sex traffickers are behind bars and then vote for him. Every vote for Blanche is really a vote against survivors.”
It would be an “embarrassment” for Trump if Blanche lost, but Kristol said that even if he’s confirmed, “it could do more damage to Republicans.” It would be the proof voters need to show that Trump still intends to hide the Epstein files, and that the GOP Senate doesn’t intend to be a check on Trump’s power.
He called on Democrats to make the coming week “as visible and painful for the GOP as possible.” And make the case that “a Republican Senate will never stand up to Trump.”
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