It might be about as useful as a screen door on a submarine, but acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has formally rescinded the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” which was a prerequisite for winning the votes of Republicans Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina for his nomination.
It’s possible to look at this as a sort of victory — as the Republican establishment finally having mustered the strength to force someone! anyone! in the Trump administration to accede to their demands.
But anyone who says that is, to be frank, an idiot. Other than specifying the immunity only applies to past (not future) investigations, Blanche’s memo doesn’t do anything to address the provision giving President Donald Trump and his family broad immunity — a fact that could be worth as much as $100 million in back taxes he won’t have to pay, according to reports.
And why should we even assume that Blanche’s memo constitutes an enforceable legal contract that would prohibit Trump from reviving the slush fund in the future?
But this isn’t really about Trump or Blanche, who are, let’s be honest, behaving in predictable ways. The more telling thing to watch here are the impotent Republican senators who naively believe they have actually done their jobs.
Blanche was Trump’s personal lawyer and has given us zero reason to believe he would begin operating as some independent entity if confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Despite having defended a man who claimed he was targeted by “lawfare,” and despite ostensibly being worried about people in power “weaponizing” law enforcement, Blanche had no problem working for a president who began his campaign promising “retribution.” He even defended the indictment of Trump enemy James Comey, the former FBI director whose sin involved posting a photo on social media of seashells aligned to spell “86 47.”
More to the point, he approved Trump’s slush fund (the assumption being that Jan. 6 rioters would constitute the lion’s share of recipients) before withdrawing it. If nothing else, that approval demonstrated the kind of poor judgment that ought to serve as a disqualifier.
What’s more, his involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein cover-up (according to former Attorney General Pam Bondi, Blanche “was leading the Epstein matter and the release of everything from the beginning”) should be a deal-breaker. Blanche privately met with Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, a meeting that, coincidentally, happened just before she was moved to a lower security “club med” facility.
For months, Blanche refused to meet with Epstein victims, finally meeting with them in mid-July once it became clear that doing so would be a sine qua non to earning Tillis’ confirmation vote. But survivors say Blanche was “very condescending,” and that they were “gaslit.”
What I’m getting at here is that there are a million reasons why a serious legislator would come to the conclusion that Blanche has not demonstrated the independence, judgment or character to deserve becoming the attorney general of the United States of America. And yet, these two Republican senators who wanted to make a big show of clutching their pearls and wringing their hands now say they will support his nomination.
It’s also important to note that we are talking about two U.S. senators who ought to be liberated from electoral concerns. Tillis announced last June that he wouldn’t seek reelection, after Trump publicly attacked him for voting “no” to advance the so-called “big, beautiful bill.” Trump reacted to the announcement by calling it “Great News.” And Cornyn lost his Senate primary this past May, after Trump endorsed his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, at the eleventh hour.
In the wake of his defeat, Cornyn posted a cryptic message on social media. It was the parable of the frog and the scorpion. The story ends when the scorpion stings the frog saying, “I am sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s my character.” It’s unclear whether Cornyn is self-aware enough to have fully appreciated the self-own. In the analogy, Cornyn is the frog who unwisely agrees to give the scorpion (Trump) a ride across the river and — surprise — gets stung. One supposes that his vote for Blanche is simply the latest “ride” he has agreed to provide.
Even if Cornyn and Tillis aren’t the sort to seek revenge, they at least shouldn’t feel compelled to do Trump any favors or give him and his minions the benefit of the doubt. And it’s just hard to see how you could vote “yea” on this nominee based on the merits.
And yet, it was pretty clear all along that these two Republicans were going to find a way to get to yes.
For weeks, I saw reporting on how they were “getting close” to being able to support Blanche. There was a quote from Cornyn where he said, “We’re talking, so that’s encouraging.” But that sort of betrays the goal; it’s only “encouraging” if your goal is to find a way to support him.
And, of course, they did. They picked one of the many things that ought to doom Blanche’s nomination, decided that was the be-all and end-all of human existence, got him to sign some unenforceable memo that only addresses the part of the slush fund that would go to other people (not the money that would go to Trump or his family) and declared victory.
It’s just the latest example of why Trump has been able to get away with so much. He figured out that if you can just control one of the major political parties, then you have a decent chance of winning the presidency. He further figured out that it’s better to completely dominate a smaller base than it is to be a leading member of a larger coalition. And he very clearly looked at the modern Republican Party and the conservative movement and was able to identify that, in fact, the establishment leaders were some combination of stupid, weak, inept and corrupt. That he could easily hijack this political party because (almost) nobody was strong enough or tough enough to stand up to a bully.
You can make fun of someone’s wife (as Trump did Ted Cruz’s). You can give out their cell phone number (as he did with Lindsey Graham). You can sic a mob on them in the U.S. Capitol (as he did every member of Congress). You can cost them their job (as he did Cornyn). You can basically force them into retirement (Tillis). And they’ll just look at you and say, “May I have some more, sir?”
Now, maybe their cowardice is explainable because, even after they are freed from electoral concerns, these Republicans are still afraid of physical violence. Tillis, for example, has received serious death threats. Cornyn’s office has received death threats, as well. Or maybe it’s because they want to cash in as lobbyists after leaving the Senate and they realize that the money disappears if they are persona non grata in Trump’s GOP. Maybe they’re just sick masochists. I’m not sure.
But I do know that Trump understood the Republican establishment from the very beginning. If nothing else, he was right about one big thing: They’re weak.
Matt K. Lewis is a NOTUS Perspectives columnist.