Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation is stalled.
A meeting that was scheduled to take place between Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Blanche was cancelled abruptly Wednesday morning — just a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote to move Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General out of committee.
Cornyn told reporters the meeting fell through after the Department of Justice failed to send over an adequate written proposal for how to modify the settlement between President Donald Trump and the Internal Revenue Services (IRS).
“The meeting with Todd Blanche is off,” Cornyn said Wednesday morning. “We made clear from the outset that we expected some written proposals to modify the release that was signed in the tax dispute with President Trump and his organization.”
Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) gave Blanche an ultimatum following his confirmation hearing, saying that they will not vote to move his nomination out of committee until Blanche put into writing the public comments he made saying the so-called $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that was created as a part of the IRS settlement is “dead.”
During the confirmation hearing, Cornyn questioned Blanche on the details of the settlement deal, making a point that without a written modification to the agreement between the two parties, Trump’s counsel on the case could, in fact, seek to enforce the agreement and force the creation of the slush fund at any point.
The senators from Texas and North Carolina also want the audit immunity agreement for Trump, his family and business that was included in that settlement to be changed.
A DOJ official told TPM on Wednesday that the DOJ provided the senator’s office with a written proposal on Tuesday.
“The DOJ provided a written proposal to Senator Cornyn’s staff yesterday following ongoing discussion with both the Committee and the Senator’s office,” the DOJ official said. “We look forward to further discussion around any outstanding concern.”
When asked about that proposal the DOJ said they sent over, Cornyn told reporters: “I haven’t seen a single piece of writing that is responsive to what I’ve requested.”
“We’ve had two meetings scheduled that have now been canceled because they have not been responsive in providing those written documents,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn added that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told him that he needs to “know by 4 o’clock this afternoon” whether the markup that was scheduled for Thursday morning to move Blanche’s nomination to the Senate floor is still on.
Opposition from even one Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee would tank Blanche’s chance at confirmation.
“We still got a little time, and hopefully they now recognize the seriousness of this and will be responsive,” Cornyn added.
Meanwhile Tillis indicated that he thinks the language on killing the slush fund is “pretty much agreed to” but the audit deal language is still in flux.
“I think we have agreement on what the letter has to say, and I believe they are working in good faith,” Tillis told reporters. “We just got to decide whether or not they can execute it in time for us to have a markup tomorrow, or push it to next week.”
Josh Kovensky contributed reporting.
(from TX): Cornyn will fold.
Not so sure - he’s plenty pissed about Trump ruining his career.
I’d be delighted to be wrong!
Don’t trust and verify.
Fingers crossed. But look at the bright side - without Trump shitting all over Cornyn, we wouldn’t get to delight in watching Ken Paxton slithering all over the floor.