‘Todd Blanche Is Unfit For Office,’ Says The New York Times Editorial Board

The New York Times editorial board has never been shy about an institutional opinion, and they came out swinging on Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General. The headline, Todd Blanche Is Unfit for Office, doesn’t leave a lot of interpretive room.

Bold words for the former Cadwalader partner. But not exactly surprising ones, given his audition tape for the role

The editorial lays out four reasons Blanche is unqualified for the permanent job. First, his celebration of the January 6 rioters who violently attacked police officers, which, as we’ve previously noted, has been a feature, not a bug, of this DOJ. Second, that Blanche swore under oath at his Deputy AG confirmation hearing that he would not lead politically motivated investigations — and has “broken that vow repeatedly,” including by declaring it the president’s “right” and “duty” to direct criminal investigations of his political enemies. Third, that he has violated DOJ ethics standards. And fourth, the broadest charge, that Blanche has “debased the Justice Department and helped undermine its post-Watergate commitment to independence.”

The Times also names names on the Republican side, specifically, the senators who could sink the nomination if they wanted to. Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy, and John Cornyn, all of whom are on their way out of Washington anyway. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Susan Collins, currently running for re-election in Maine on the claim that she can stand up to Trump. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The editorial singles out Tillis specifically, he sits on the Judiciary Committee, where a single Republican opponent could prevent the nomination from reaching the Senate floor. He already helped kill the DOJ’s investigation of Jerome Powell. On Blanche, the Times notes, he has not yet shown similar courage.

Republicans hold 53 seats, which means they can only lose three votes and still confirm… and the Times just listed seven potential defectors. That doesn’t mean all seven will vote no, of course. But it does mean the confirmation hearing is going to be genuinely uncomfortable for a man who, among other things, told Congress the $1.8 billion slush fund was dead while Trump was still publicly hedging on that very question, and whose un-sworn statements, a federal judge recently noted, have not exactly earned a presumption of credibility.

In a different, healthier political climate, none of this would be a close call. A former president’s personal defense attorney, now running the Justice Department in service of that same president’s enemies list, with a slush fund, a missing bullet and an Epstein cover-up in his wake? “Unfit” would be the obvious verdict. But we are where we are. And, hey, maybe Susan Collins means it this time!