Trump Has to Beg Two GOPers He’s Spurned to Get Blanche Over Finish Line

Republicans Can’t Afford to Lose Votes

The White House is being forced to court a Republican senator who President Trump has labeled a “loser” and another whose political career Trump ended to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s AG nomination to the Senate floor.

Both departing senators have used their lame duck status to mildly criticize the Trump administration over its cartoonishly corrupt creation of a $1.8 billion slush fund — which is defunct for now, per Blanche — but was forged out of a shady settlement agreement between Trump and his own Internal Revenue Service. A judge recently found that there genuine case or controversy to the lawsuit that Trump brought against a department within his own government over the leak of his tax returns, years ago.

During Blanche’s confirmation hearing last week, both Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) made a point of pressing Blanche on the so-called anti-weaponization fund and whether or not it is actually “dead,” as he has been claiming. During his round of questioning, Cornyn pushed Blanche to admit that the fund was not actually defunct because President Trump had not “not agreed in writing to delete” it, and there remains a chance that Trump or other plaintiffs in the IRS lawsuit case could bring a “breach of contract lawsuit in the future” to raise that issue.

Tillis, on the other hand, seemed satisfied with Blanche’s explanations for why the fund is dead, and asked the acting AG to help him draft the legal language for legislation that lawmakers could pass that would officially “stick a fork in this turkey of a 1776 fund.” The senator also got Blanche to commit to meeting with victims of Jeffrey Epstein — something Blanche has reportedly already done. (Trump also recently called Tillis a “loser” for saying he wanted Blanche to more forcefully denounce the Jan. 6 attacks).

Republicans cannot afford to lose votes on the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance Blanche’s nomination out of committee. The White House is reportedly not taking any chances. It’s actively courting the two senators, Politico reported, and Cornyn and Tillis confirmed from Capitol Hill Monday night. Per Politico:

“Well, does he want to get confirmed or not?” was Cornyn’s response when asked whether he would be able to extract concessions from Blanche given his previous reticence to amend a controversial settlement agreement he entered into on President Donald Trump’s behalf.

…

Cornyn said Monday he is currently discussing with the Trump administration two main components of that settlement Blanche, in his capacity as deputy attorney general, brokered with the IRS: one shielding Trump and his family from IRS audits, the other launching a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” critics believe could operate as a slush fund for the president’s allies.

“Those are the issues we’re continuing to discuss with the administration to see whether we can get a modification of the settlement agreement,” said Cornyn.

And while Tillis has made it clear that he will likely be satisfied with some sort of legislative declaration that the fund is dead, Cornyn has said that such a move would be “much more problematic.”

You’ll recall that shortly after Trump ensured the end of Cornyn’s career in the Senate via political backstabbing, Cornyn predicted a “miserable” final two years for Trump in an interview with the New York Times. We’ll soon see how much of that was just talk.

Guy Who Wouldn’t Say Who Won in 2020 Moved Out of Committee

During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week, Director of National Intelligence nominee Jay Clayton repeatedly refused to directly say that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, as TPM reported. Why was the guy Trump wants to lead the foreign intelligence office being asked about a presidential election six years ago? Because during Trump II that position has been transformed into little more than an investigative arm of Trump’s 2020 election delusions.

Nevertheless, Republicans advanced his nomination out of committee today:

Navarro Still Could Not Prove Exec Privilege Claims

Blast from the past: White House trade adviser during Trump I, Peter Navarro’s conviction for defying a congressional subpoena was upheld by a federal appeals court on Tuesday. Navarro filed an appeal after serving a four-month sentence upon being convicted for contempt of Congress. The House January 6 select committee that investigated the insurrection issued a subpoena in March 2022 to turn over documents and appear for a deposition. He did not comply, claiming executive privilege.

A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a decision on Tuesday, saying Navarro still could not prove that Trump had somehow shielded him from having to comply with the subpoena.

“In short, Dr. Navarro has acknowledged that even if executive privilege had been invoked, that would not have excused his categorical failure to comply with the Select Committee’s subpoena,” D.C. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett wrote.

More to Read From TPM Today

Mike Lindell tells Khaya Himmelman that he actually is registered to vote in Minnesota, touting the state’s automatic voter registration laws that election deniers like him love to criticize. The temporary ID he sent us expired at the beginning of the year: Mike Lindell Is Not Registered to Vote in Minnesota. He Claims His Temp ID Registers Him.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) attempted to question Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about a theory TPM covered extensively at the start of the Iran war about the administration’s potential argument for backdoor congressional authorization. Hegseth dodged the question. Emine Yücel has more here: Hegseth Sidesteps Murkowski Question About Backdoor War Authorization

“The Trump administration’s Air Force One leak investigation targeting the New York Times is encountering severe turbulence already,” David Kurtz writes in today’s edition of Morning Memo: Conceding Major Screwups, DOJ Pauses NYT Subpoenas

Yesterday’s Top Story

Trump Comes to Terms With the Fact That the Entire SAVE Act Can’t Be Stuffed in Budget Bill

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