The chaos around the nomination of Todd Blanche for President Donald Trump's attorney general left CNN's Kaitlan Collins struggling to follow.
The situation is "remarkable," Collins told anchor Pamela Brown, "because just 24 hoursago, the president was tellingreporters in the Oval Officethat he did not think there wereany issues with Todd Blanche'snomination, that he was going tosail through. And now, ofcourse, the president isthreatening to withdraw hisnomination entirely should theynot be able to come to anagreement with these two keyRepublican Senate holdouts."
Further complicating things, said Collins, the two holdouts, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Cornyn (R-TX), "are going to no longer be in theSenate because of President Trump and the role that heplayed in ousting them fromtheir offices. And so we'll waitto see if the president actuallyfollows through on that threat if they cannot come to anagreement."
Blanche is now huddling with Cornyn and Tillis to try to come to an agreement.
"It's a dicey situation and adelicate one, because obviously,part of what's at the heart ofthis and that John Cornyn wantsclarification on is whatPresident Trump is benefitingfrom in this agreement, which isto shield him from retroactive IRS investigation after his tax returns were leaked, obviously, during his first term in office," said Collins.
Ultimately, she added, this is "not just an easy threat for Trump to make."
"He's saying he'll just renominate Todd Blanche at a later date, once Thom Tillis and John Cornyn are out of the Senate," said Collins. But "it is not guaranteed ... that those would be better conditions for this White House. It is a gamble, and the administration does know that."