Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche just got put in an "extremely tricky position" after a federal judge singled him out for potential misconduct as he's set to testify to the Senate at his confirmation hearing, former federal prosecutor Harry Litman wrote on Tuesday for his Talking Feds Substack.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, who had been suspiciously scrutinizing President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the IRS and the subsequent "settlement" that yielded a $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization fund" to pay off Trump's allies straight from the Treasury, ruled this week that the entire lawsuit was invalid because Trump was effectively suing his own government, playing both sides to extract taxpayer money.
Notably, Litman said, Williams found the case invalid partly on the grounds of Trump's recent win in a landmark Supreme Court case, Trump v. Slaughter, which gave the president a near-blank check to fire independent agency heads. "The administration won that case on the theory that every executive officer is the president’s instrument, subject to his control," wrote Litman, and therefore Williams cited this power as "evidence of his ability to exercise control over Defendants.”
Now that the deal is defunct, Williams turned to the conduct of Blanche and his fellow senior DOJ officials, Litman wrote — and the assessment was scathing.
"Williams concluded that the government’s silence in the face of her jurisdictional inquiry was 'because its position would not withstand judicial scrutiny,' and because resolving the jurisdictional question 'would not have favored its preferred outcome to this case,'" wrote Litman — meaning, in short, the DOJ "turned tail and ran" because they knew they were caught in an indefensible position.
The problem for Blanche now, wrote Litman, is that "the order flatly prohibits the parties from referring to, citing, or offering the 'settlement agreement' in any proceeding" — which, if read literally, would mean if he tries to defend his conduct as senators grill him on it in his hearing, he would be in contempt of court, and if he stays silent, he makes his own confirmation more complicated.
"On Wednesday, Blanche raises his right hand, and we find out how the Department plans to begin," concluded Litman.
