Did Blanche and Trump Quietly Pursue a Quid Pro Quo for Murkowski's Vote?
Now that Todd Blanche has cleared the committee, his nomination depends on a narrowly divided Senate, where a single Republican vote could decide the outcome. That vote is likely to belong to Senator Murkowski.
To no one’s surprise, Republicans John Cornyn and Thom Tillis failed to meet the moment and instead voted to confirm Todd Blanche, meaning he now faces a vote of the full Senate. This is despite the fact that Todd Blanche is acting much more like Trump’s current personal attorney than his former one. The examples are almost too numerous to list, but we need look no further than just a few days ago, when U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro, who reports to Blanche, had to dismiss a criminal indictment built on the president’s own false vandalism claim. Blanche, her boss, made not even a peep. Let’s not even get started on Epstein.
The fact is, these next few years are going to be perhaps the most crucial time for the rule of law, because Trump and his allies seem ready to wreak chaos in many forms to hold onto power. Blanche, as top lawyer, is essential. That is why Trump wanted his former personal attorney in the role, and why it is so incredibly disappointing that Cornyn and Tillis folded.
Senator Murkowski and Trump have a recent history of dealmaking. Last year, she voted for the reconciliation bill that cut Medicaid nationwide. In exchange, the bill was revised to include a mandate to open Arctic land to new oil leases and a fund intended to offset cuts to rural hospitals, including several in Alaska. Which makes Blanche’s recent trip to Alaska highly suspect.
On July 7, in the middle of his confirmation fight, Blanche personally traveled to Alaska and announced a $180 million settlement with the state, resolving a lawsuit over an unfinished federal port project in Anchorage that had been in litigation since 2014.
The federal government had defended that lawsuit for twelve years, through multiple administrations, including all four years of Trump’s first term. Blanche described the case, incredibly, as “a fight that didn’t need to happen,” insisting there was no real dispute about the facts in the lawsuit. Yet, the federal government spent countless hours of legal time and resources defending it. For twelve years.
Making this even worse is the fact that Blanche did not send a deputy to deliver this news. He personally traveled to Alaska to announce the payout and made a point of saying how much he and Trump care about the state. Sure they do. A personal appearance by the acting attorney general for a settlement announcement is highly unusual. Invoking the president in that announcement is unwarranted. The timing creates the appearance of impropriety. Put together, it looks like an orchestrated show, staged for a vote.
This, however, is much worse than a typical trade for a vote. Blanche is asking to be the country’s top lawyer, a job that comes with ethical and professional responsibilities. Ending a lawsuit is supposed to reflect legal judgment, not function as a congressional subsidy. Using the resolution of legal liability as a bargaining chip for a vote, from a man asking to be the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, is stunning.
Just a coincidence? Possibly. But surely he knew enough to send someone else. He had just been rebuked, only weeks earlier, by Judge Kathleen Williams, who found he should have recused himself from the IRS case entirely because of the conflict of interest. Instead, he did not recuse himself, send someone else, or even alter the timing of the announcement. This is not how an ethical attorney should practice law, and it’s certainly not how the Attorney General should practice law.
Todd Blanche has shown, over and over, that he is willing to represent Trump, but not his actual client, the American people.
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Dina Doll is an experienced attorney and legal analyst. She hosts the MissTrial podcast on MeidasTouch and co-hosts Unprecedented on Legal AF. Dina also serves as the legal expert for Access Hollywood’s Trial Files and provides regular legal commentary for CNN, NewsNation, and other national media outlets. In addition to her media work, she is a delegate to the California Democratic Party, a community activist, and a City Library Commissioner.
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That a woman, of all people would vote for this monster is a condemnation to hell. Full stop.
Wouldn’t surprise me one bit. She has 2 faces.