This post began life with a different numerical title: Top Ten Reasons Todd Blanche Should Not Be Confirmed. The sentiment remains but I dropped the top ten list when I saw Paul Duginski’s brilliant cartoon of the eternally grim Acting Attorney General. A poker face is not a bad quality for a trial lawyer, but Blanche has resting asshole poker face. His default look is sinister and Nixonian, which is probably why Trump plucked him out of obscurity and made him his criminal defense lawyer. A job at which he is still employed, his official title notwithstanding.

Repeat after me: Todd Blanche is a shyster.

Blanche’s confirmation hearings to remove acting from his title are scheduled to begin tomorrow. It’s unclear at this writing how Lindsey Graham’s death will affect the hearings. The former chairman of the committee was the 12th Republican member of the 22 member panel. Even if he’s replaced, all it takes is one nay vote on committee to doom the nomination. A tie goes to Blanche’s opponents.

Will the so-called YOLO caucus reignite to block him? Judiciary committee members John Cornyn and Thom Tillis could prevent Blanche’s elevation. The two lame duck senators are in the same position as Bill Cassidy with Bobby Junior’s nomination. Cassidy blew it. It wouldn’t surprise me if, despite the brave rhetoric, they blow it too. It’s what MAGA Republicans do.

Todd Blanche not only looks sinister, his record is sinister. He’s been behind many of the most corrupt and incompetent actions of Team Trump:

• The Epstein Files coverup.
• The transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a Club Fed facility.
• The slush fund and IRS immunity gambit.
• The second Comey indictment and other vindictive prosecutions.
• The incessant courtroom mendacity of MAGA DOJ lawyers.
• Allowing the DOJ to be used as Trump’s private law firm.

The last point is the primary reason the Blanche nomination should be rejected. He’s STILL the Insult Comedian’s personal lawyer. If Trump snaps his fingers, Blanche springs into action to do his bidding. If Trump’s boots need licking, Todd’s tongue is available. Such a man should NOT be Deputy AG let alone the DOJ’s top dog.

Instead of facing a senate confirmation hearing, Blanche should be facing disbarment from the New York and DC bar associations. In fact, Blanche has proposed a DOJ rule that would give the sitting AG power to thwart state bar review of ethic complaints against DOJ attorneys.

Todd Blanche may think DOJ lawyers are above the law, but the slush fund case judge disagrees. Judge Kathleen Williams has referred Blanche to the New York bar association for his misconduct in that case. Are you listening Senator Cornyn?

Since Blanche signed on to represent the Kaiser of Chaos, I’ve seen some of Blanche’s former SDNY colleagues express dismay at who and what he’s become. He was considered an able and apolitical prosecutor. He’s now an inept and corruptly political defense lawyer in Acting Attorney General drag who wants the acting stripped from his title. Instead, the senate should just say no to Todd Blanche.

It’s time for more title talk, something I cannot get enough of. Does that make me entitled? Discuss amongst yourselves.

The final post title was inspired by Duginski’s toon title Three Portraits Of Todd Blanche and by this movie title:

Todd Blanche doesn’t have multiple personality disorder but he does have three faces. The first face was his life BT: Before Trump. The second face is his life as Trump’s mouthpiece. The third face reflects his current life as Trump’s agent of retribution. Todd Blanche is Donald Trump’s creature. This quote sums up Blanche’s abject sycophancy:

“I love working for President Trump. It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime,” Blanche said when asked whether he wanted to be nominated as the full-time attorney general. “If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say: ‘Thank you very much, I love you, sir.’”

He’s gotten his dream job. It’s time for the senate to reject his nomination before Todd Blanche’s dream becomes America’s nightmare.

Repeat after me: Todd Blanche is a fuck up.

The last word goes to Pete Townshend: