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[00:00]
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[00:45]
JBL
Todd Blanche is in trouble. Hello, friends. I'm JBL here with my bulwark colleague and author of the Morning Shots newsletter, Andrew Egger. Andrew, on Capitol Hill today, they were supposedly going to start moving good old Todd Blanche, very strong charism, acting Attorney General, start moving him through the confirmation process only to have things stopped at the last minute. Andrew, before we start, would you like to set the stage?
[01:14]
Andrew Egger
Yeah. So what we have here, this is the guy who is obviously currently serving as the acting Attorney General. He's been that way since Pam Bondi was run out of town by the president earlier this year. But, but, but Trump has been trying to make it official. Trump has been trying to get his confirmation through the Senate. Um, he has run into a perhaps surprising amount of resistance from a couple of senators. Not that surprising once you realize the very, very small concessions that these senators are trying to get out of Blanche, which, which Trump and the federal government seem disinclined to give them. Um, but, but, but surprising. Just, just against the normal backdrop of, of GOP quiescence to everything that, that Trump wants them to do. But that all came to a head today. Blanchett is confir. Weeks ago, the committee, the Judiciary Committee was supposed to vote him out of committee today, but you have two senators who are saying, until we get a couple of these very small concessions, which apparently we haven't been able to get yet because of the White House, we're a no go on it. So Trump is punting.
[02:19]
JBL
Those senators are Cornyn and Tillis, both of whom Donald Trump has driven out of political life. Is that fair to say?
[02:29]
Andrew Egger
Yes, they are both lame. Ducked out. Cornyn lost his primary. He's a senator from Texas, lost his primary earlier this year after Trump dangled an endorsement in front of him for months to make him do all kinds of embarrassing things and jump through hoops and try to rename interstates after the president and things like this, but then endorsed his primary opponent, Ken Paxton. Cornyn has now lost that primary. He will be leaving Congress next year, leaving the Senate next year. Same with Thom Tillis, who, rather than go through that whole song and dance, took the somewhat more dignified, although more defeatist approach of just retiring. Did not actually wait around for Trump to pick him. A primary challenger saw the writing on the wall there and said, I'm done. I will also be leaving next year of my own free will.
[03:17]
JBL
And the sticking point here seems to be they want the weaponization fund to be put to bed officially. And the White House seems to want to say, yeah, okay, sure, but not actually put that in writing. Correct?
[03:37]
Andrew Egger
Yes. And I, to be honest, I have had a hard time wrapping my mind around this because it really did seem during Blanche's confirmation hearing a couple of weeks ago and during some, Some testimony prior to that as well, that this thing had been put to bed, that the White House put up a trial balloon about this. This was a big part of Blanche's audition to be Trump's real nominee for the permanent post of Attorney General, is that he shepherded this anti weaponization fund through. I assume people remember this unless. Unless you were either living under a rock or refresh them.
[04:08]
JBL
We've had 87 scandals since then.
[04:10]
Andrew Egger
I know you found your mind, like, bludgeoned, you know, completely insensate by all this other shit that's going on. But the anti weaponization fund, if you do or don't remember, what was this unbelievably corrupt and appalling deal that Blanch and Company put forward to settle a personal lawsuit that Trump had brought against the IRS in his personal capacity that would have created this gigantic pot of federal money to do payouts. A slush fund to people who had claims that they had been wronged by the quote, unquote, weaponization of the Justice Department under President Biden. And what that primarily meant was the President and his family and people around him, even though the President personally would have been barred from collecting from this directly. But, but, you know, people in. In his orbit who felt like they had been unjustly prosecuted for crimes, and then even more obviously, January Sixers, people who stormed the Capitol at his behest and command, you know, in order to stop him from no longer being the president, in order to stop the 2020 election from being certified, and who then correctly found themselves prosecuted, and many of them found themselves jailed because they'd been convicted of the crimes they committed in connection to that riot and to that insurrection attempt. Not only did these people get pardoned as soon as Trump came back into office, every single one of them, even those who had assaulted Capitol Police officers and things. But according to the plan of this anti weaponization fund which was launched, it wasn't just planned, it was announced, launched, they were moving forward with it. These people would have been eligible for financial taxpayer restitution for the pains that, for their troubles, essentially for the pains they had suffered. Blanche pulled the plug on this after it became clear not. Not only that there was going to be a lot of GOP resistance to, to this plan ever happening. In fact, there were a lot of, there was a lot of talk about even creating new legislation to block this thing from ever going into effect. But not only that, he quickly, kind of quickly became clear to him that it was imperiling his own possible future confirmation. And so he told the Senate at a couple different points in his testimony, just kidding, we're, we're shelving this. We're putting it on mothballs. You're never going to have to worry about it again. And that seemed to be the end of it until now, until Blanche came back around to Congress to get the votes that he needed in the Senate for this confirmation. He only needs 50 votes and, and found out that a couple of these senators were wanted a little more than just him saying in a congressional hearing that they had no intention of reviving this fund. He wanted a written declaration. They both wanted a written declaration from the Justice Department that this fund would not be moving forward as opposed to just, no, we're not planning on that right now. And apparently, apparently this is something that matters enough to some important people in the White House that they are willing to keel haul their own, their own Attorney General nomination for, rather than give what, by all appearances should be just one more practical reassurance of this thing that they have supposedly already abandoned. So it's just a crazy situation, basically, any way you look at it.
[07:23]
JBL
Let's hear from John Cornyn.
[07:24]
John Cornyn
If this were just between me and, and Todd Blanch, we would have worked this out, but apparently he's getting some pushback from higher ups at the White House. I don't know who, but this doesn't need to be this hard.
[07:40]
JBL
What have you heard from the White House and what have you heard from the Justice Department?
[07:43]
John Cornyn
Well, we made, they, they made a proposal last night. We made a counter proposal, and we thought we basically had met in the middle, but heard this morning that that was all off.
[07:55]
Andrew Egger
So he doesn't want to put it in writing.
[07:57]
John Cornyn
Is that what it is? That's basically it yeah. And it's what he testified to under oath. So it's not like this is something new and different. And it causes me concern if they don't want to put it in writing that this is not something that is going to be enforceable in the long term.
[08:13]
JBL
I, I just have one question for you, Andrew. How does putting it in writing make it enforceable? I mean, Bobby Kennedy said a whole bunch of things under oath and he went back on all of them. The Trump administration signed a deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the House of Saud, to begin selling nuclear stuff to them so they can begin their civilian nuclear program. And then after they signed the deal, the Trump administration was like, no, actually they have to recognize Israel too. And Saudi's response was, you know, I'm sorry, bro, we signed the deal. There ain't no renegotiation. It's right here. We got the paper. But that doesn't mean they're going to get it right. I mean, the idea that, well, we signed a piece of paper with Donald Trump means that it's over. Is he stupid?
[09:07]
Andrew Egger
Yeah, I mean, I totally take your point on that. I guess the counterargument is like, what else could you expect to get? Like, what would be better than better than that? It seems to me that you're not
[09:17]
JBL
going to get anything and so don't confirm him. Like, that's, that's why, like, if what you care about is this, like, if, if you care about this, then the answer is no, we're not going to confirm you.
[09:26]
Andrew Egger
And that is the funny subtext of all of this, right, is, is it's like this. It's not just that this anti weaponization fund is or would be bad if it were real. It is also so psychotic that the plan was ever thought up, that it was ever launched, that it was ever like the brainchild of this man, Todd Blanche, to be like, you know what I think the President would really go for that would really make him want to put me in this job permanently, is if I, if I did this insanely corrupt deal and that, that all these guys, including Tillis and Cornyn, are willing to basically say, well, you know, I'm not going to hold it against you that you tried to shove this down our throats. I just want, I just want the tiniest little bit of reassurance that you won't try to do this exact one again.
[10:11]
JBL
I want you to. Promise. Promise. You want to. Well, we're okay with all the Epstein cover up stuff. We're okay with the fact that you're the president's lawyer. We're okay, you know, like, we're going to come up with one thing that you could satisfy us with to make it look like we held your feet to the fire when I just. Andrew, what do they care? They hate Donald Trump. Donald Trump hates them. Is nobody in Washington motivated by spite anymore?
[10:42]
Andrew Egger
It's so surreal to see a guy like Cornyn who is like, you know, you're sort of typical, like deals oriented legislator who loves to get in there and, you know, hash out an omnibus or, or whatever. He spent a lot of time in GOP leadership and he's talking about this deal like, like you talk about that. Like, you know, like, oh, we've got this, we've got this, this little bit of distance between us on marginal tax rates or on, or on this piece of policy or on that piece of, you know, you know, that, that different trade apparatus or whatever. And we got in the room last night and we thought we were pretty close. And then this morning they came back and we're not as close as we thought we were going to get there. But what we're talking about is giving money to people who beat up police officers on January 6th. I mean, like, we are so far through the looking glass on this stuff. It's crazy.
[11:28]
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[12:39]
JBL
The other half of this, Andrew, is the promise of immunity, right, for future prosecutions against Trump and his family for the irs. Anyway, about an hour after the Cornyn interview, we just saw, we got a Truth Social tweet from Donald J. Trump. I'll read it for you. Friends, Todd Blanche is a star and everyone knows it. He has the potential to go down as one of the greatest attorney generals of all time. However, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both of whom I refuse to endorse and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this great nominee who will remain in any event as acting. Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland and others too numerous to mention. I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name if they do not do the right thing and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office. President DONALD J. Trump. Okay, and we then get a response from Cornyn. Potus is mistaken if he believes my concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis. I don't, I don't think he's mistaken, Andrew. I think the President is right. The only people who object are the ones standing up and saying the object. Everybody else has swallowed it.
[14:00]
Andrew Egger
It depends what, what specific thing you're referring to. I think these are the only two guys who are willing to hold up Blanche in, at this moment in time. I think that if you were to see them actually try to dust this policy off based on all the reporting we were getting, you know, when this, when this was first a live issue, I mean, the White House backtracked on this very quickly in a way they would not have had to do if it were only Tillis and Cornyn, like these two people who had already kind of become Persona non grata in Trump world. There was a lot of talk about half the Republican conference perhaps being willing to, like, actually stand up and be. No, I'm serious. Like, like, like. Sure, Jan. Not to, not to go to the, not to go to the microphones and, and, you know, talk about it the way it actually was, which is like this true, genuine, appalling assault on the rule of law and like, this attempt to make good evil and evil good, like that, that was never going to happen. But in terms of potentially getting behind some kind of amendment to some kind of must pass piece of legislation that would block the fund from going into effect, I mean, that's the Kind of stuff that, that we were hearing a lot about. And it backed the White House off, at least at that time. So, so I don't know. I mean, I do think the one other point that I'd make is that I think it's interesting that Blanche, I mean, I think he has actually played this pretty well from, from his own personal, selfish point of view of how do I cement my place as Donald Trump's candidate in this race. Because again, like I keep saying, that was what this fund was about since the very beginning. And now even though the fund has sort of fallen apart and self destructed, he has succeeded in now picking this fight, like casting his nomination fight as him carrying the, the, the, the, the bloody flag of MAGA forward against these two in Trump's mind, rhinos in Cornyn and Tillis. I mean, like, there were a lot of people out in MAGA world who, whose opinion of Todd Blanche was. This is a rhino in disguise. This is just like a, a hotshot, smooth lawyer who's not really a true believer, who wants to get in there, who's going to bill bar us one of these days, you know, and, and show his true colors when the President needs him most.
[16:00]
JBL
And I feel pretty, pretty safe in saying that Todd Blanch will not pull up a bill bar.
[16:06]
Andrew Egger
I agree with that. I agree with that. I'm just saying that was the kind of MAGA chatter that Blanche was trying to inoculate himself against with this whole gimmick. And I think he has succeeded in that cynical play.
[16:19]
JBL
Well, and to your, to your point that Blanche has actually been quite, quite savvy about this, he's managed to do that while also managing to make Tillis and Cornyn think that he's actually on their side and he's the reasonable one. Here's Tillis action.
[16:38]
John Cornyn
As the President's getting bad advice, he should listen to Blanche and others who think if it's dead, it should be rendered completely dead.
[16:44]
Andrew Egger
What do you mean he's getting bad advice?
[16:46]
JBL
I mean, this is the President making
[16:47]
John Cornyn
a decision to not do what Blanche said, said they were going to do. Whoever that person is, is giving the President bad advice. The only reason why we wouldn't move forward with this language is because that same advisor wants to bring it back to life at some point.
[17:02]
JBL
I'm saying the advisors, but it's the President.
[17:05]
John Cornyn
You can draw that conclusion, Manu, and I can draw one that's got my eyes on the target.
[17:10]
JBL
Oh, his eyes are on the target, Andrew. What does that mean? If Only Comrade Stalin knew. If only his advisors would really tell him what was going on, he would never liquidate the kulaks.
[17:25]
Andrew Egger
I.
[17:29]
JBL
Nothing makes me as mad as this, Andrew. Nothing. What are you protecting Thom Tillis? You're done. They hate you. This gang stomped you out and you're protecting them.
[17:42]
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[17:42]
JBL
It drives me crazy. Absolutely crazy. John Fetterman doesn't treat his Democratic colleagues with this much deference as Tom Tillis does with the guy who ended his career. I don't understand.
[17:58]
Andrew Egger
Yeah. Even just from a strategic point of view, it just seems totally bewildering. There are two main actors here, and both of their motivations are completely intelligible and obvious. And it's Blanche and Trump. And Blanche, as we keep talking about, this whole thing's his baby. He's the guy with his signature on the paperwork for this anti weaponization fund. From the very beginning, he was the guy who was trotted out there to defend it at various points. And then obviously it is all at Trump's best, you know, like everything else is in this government. So we have to. We have to gin up this. This, like, fan fiction about how there's some different secret third party who's out there. Like, like, like Blanche. I did not realize this. I had not noticed this until you pointed it out. Queuing that clip up. The way that Tillis was loops Blanche in as. As like a reasonable party in this interaction. And presumably the President would be, too, if it weren't for the fact that he were getting this advice from some mystery man who just really wants to give the J6ers their flowers.
[18:52]
JBL
What is Thom Tillis think he's protecting here? Because it's like he's acting like he's trying to keep Trump from being. Trump has made it clear his view, his. His message to Thom Tillis. Fuck you. Like, that's. It's not like he. He. Trump has no problem being like, Tom Tillis. Who's this guy? I ended his career. He sucks, and he's gone. And Tom Tillis like, well, trying to protect you. Just get better. Who. This is what I don't understand, Andrew. What is the play if you're Tom Tillis and you're going to be a cuck, just get in the chair and be a cuck, right? Or. Or go along with it. Because whatever. You know, my. Is what my guess. But this weird Twilight like, well, I'm going to hold it up, but I'm not going to really hold it up because even if they give me the thing I want they can still do it sometime, but I'm going to cause a little bit of. It's mystifying. Why? What is he playing?
[19:48]
Andrew Egger
To me, it's a little bit less like this bank shot. I'm going to try to woo the President by continuing to defend his. His honor sort of before an audience of the American people. I think it's just a little bit more like lizard brain and Pavlovian than that. He knows that if he were to directly attack the President, and the President were to see that, it would just be the very end of any possible movement toward what he wants to get in this. In this department. And you've seen these guys play this game for years. Sometimes it works a little bit, usually it doesn't. They always kind of try to trick themselves into believing it's the high percentage play in any given interaction, because what else are they supposed to do other than, you know, try to reinvent themselves as, like, resistance hero Republicans, and none of them are interested in that sort of thing. But, yeah, I mean, like, this is exactly the strategy that we were just talking about. Cornyn tried for months and months and months and months in his own primary. You know, just wrapping himself in the MAGA flag over and over again, doing all of this stuff to butter up the President. There's this weird thing for Trump, like, on a personal level, and we've seen this psychologically with a lot of different Republicans over the years, and is that he demands that you completely supplicate yourself to him in this way. Like, he, it is, it is absolutely like the first and last thing you have to do even to get in the room. But as soon as you do it, and the more you keep doing it, the. And the more he observes you doing it, the less he respects you, because it's so obviously like, servile, clownish behavior. And like, there's. There's no real way to stay in his good books other than what a very, very few people who he perceives to actually be bringing something to the table that he himself does not already have, have been able to do over the years, guys like Stephen Miller. But for the most part, this is the bind that all these guys find themselves in. There's no way out. I'm sure there's a part of Cornyn and a part of Tillis that is glad to finally be on their way out of here and are just trying to get a couple last little things to soothe their consciences, even as they try not to make too many waves so as to not have Too many headaches in retirement. It's a little bit of a balance between. Between, you know, the soothing their own heads and soothing their own hearts for their. For their last years here on earth.
[21:59]
JBL
You know, regular listeners or readers of my. My newsletter, the Triad, Ding ding ding, may know that I don't have the highest opinion of people who have voted for Donald Trump three times now. But I gotta say, this episode, I think, is a perfectly good explanation for why Republican voters choose Trump. Because if you look at Donald Trump in this situation and then you look at Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, Thom Tillis and John Cornyn's position is ludicrous. And they clearly are either idiots or weaklings or cowards or fools. Like, nothing they're doing or saying here makes any sense. What Trump is saying makes all the sense in the world. He's just open, right? Like he wants this thing. These other guys are mooks. Who cares? And you know what? If your view of the Republican Party pre Trump was that it's filled with guys like Cornyn and Tillis, and then Trump comes along and you're just like, well, you know, says what he means, like, okay, I get it. Because what Tillis and Cornyn are doing here is ludicrous. All right, guys, hit like, hit. Subscribe, follow the channel. We'll be back with more good news. Because it's always good news. Good luck, America.
[23:22]
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Summary6 min read

Bulwark Takes — Trump Threatens to Pull His Own Attorney General Pick

Date: July 31, 2026
Host: JBL, with Andrew Egger
Key Guests/Voices: Sen. John Cornyn, President Donald J. Trump

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the stalling of the Senate confirmation for Todd Blanche, President Trump’s pick for Attorney General. JBL and Andrew Egger unpack the resistance from outgoing Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, the controversy over the now-shelved "anti-weaponization fund," and Trump's open threats to withdraw Blanche’s nomination. The discussion highlights the surreal dynamic between Trump and the GOP, the lingering influence of party loyalty, and the personal motivations and gambits underlying this high-stakes political drama.

Key Discussion Points

Setting the Stage: The Attorney General Nomination Crisis

Blanche’s Background (01:13): Todd Blanche is serving as Acting Attorney General after Pam Bondi was ousted. Trump has tried to make his appointment permanent but faces resistance from Cornyn and Tillis.
- Notable: Both senators are lame ducks—Cornyn lost his primary after Trump undermined him, and Tillis voluntarily retired to avoid a similar fate. (02:18–03:16)

The "Anti-Weaponization Fund" Scandal

What Is the Fund? (04:10):
- An "unbelievably corrupt and appalling" project that would have paid out federal funds to people who claimed to be wronged by alleged "weaponization" of the Justice Department—mainly Trump associates and January 6th rioters.
- Blanche originally pushed it, only backtracking when it threatened his confirmation, stating under oath he’d dropped it. Senators now demand this promise in writing. (03:36–07:22)

Notable Explanation:

“Not only did these people get pardoned as soon as Trump came back into office ... according to the plan ... they would have been eligible for taxpayer restitution for their troubles.”
— Andrew Egger (05:13)

The Senate Standoff: Why Cornyn and Tillis Resist

Both senators want the Justice Department to put, in writing, that the fund is dead—a step the White House resists.
JBL questions whether a written promise would even be meaningful in Trump World, referencing past Trump administration “agreements.” (08:12–09:07)

JBL’s Take:

“The idea that, well, we signed a piece of paper with Donald Trump means that it’s over. Is he stupid?”
— JBL (08:12)

Cornyn’s direct comment (07:24–08:12):

“If this were just between me and Todd Blanche, we would have worked this out, but apparently he’s getting pushback from higher-ups at the White House. ... I don’t know who, but this doesn’t need to be this hard.”
— Sen. John Cornyn

The Trump Response: Truth Social and the MAGA Narrative

Trump blasts Cornyn and Tillis, threatens to pull Blanche’s nomination and reinstate him after they’re gone:

“Both of whom I refuse to endorse and whose political careers have been ended by my action ... I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name ... and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office.”
— Donald J. Trump (Truth Social, read at 12:39)
Cornyn rebuts, insisting others share his concerns:

“POTUS is mistaken if he believes my concerns ... are limited to me and Senator Tillis.”
— Sen. John Cornyn

Blanche’s Political Gambit

Blanche is painted as cynically maneuvering to prove himself the “true MAGA” pick, even as his original scheme collapses.
- MAGA world skeptical of Blanche’s loyalties; this fight rallies the base to his side (as opposed to “Bill Barr-ing” Trump). (15:00–16:05)
JBL and Egger credit Blanche for skillfully playing both sides, making himself look reasonable to senators while appearing loyal to Trump. (16:19)

Egger’s Summation:

“He has succeeded in now picking this fight, like casting his nomination fight as him carrying the bloody flag of MAGA forward against these two, in Trump’s mind, RINOs in Cornyn and Tillis.”
— Andrew Egger (14:00)

The Mysterious "Bad Advisors" and Blame-Shifting

Cornyn suggests Trump is acting on “bad advice,” while JBL and Egger point out this is rhetorical cover—Trump is fully in control:

“If only Comrade Stalin knew ... he would never liquidate the kulaks.” — JBL (17:10)

GOP Psychology: Spite, Submission, and Trump’s Iron Grip

JBL: “Is nobody in Washington motivated by spite anymore?” (10:11)
Analysis of Cornyn and Tillis’s willingness to hold out on a token issue after being politically destroyed by Trump.
Discussion of GOP servility to Trump and the psychological bind: complete fealty earns only contempt from Trump, but open resistance is political suicide. (19:47–21:58)

JBL’s Sharpest Take:

“Trump has no problem being like, Tom Tillis. Who’s this guy? I ended his career. He sucks, and he’s gone. And Tom Tillis [is] like, well, trying to protect you. ... This weird Twilight like, well, I’m going to hold it up, but I’m not going to really hold it up ... It’s mystifying. What is he playing?”
— JBL (18:51–19:47)

Why GOP Voters Prefer Trump

JBL closes by suggesting the contrast between Trump’s ruthless clarity and the senators’ self-defeating dithering explains Trump’s continued dominance:

“What Trump is saying makes all the sense in the world. He’s just open, right? Like he wants this thing. These other guys are mooks. Who cares? ... If you look at Donald Trump in this situation ... what Tillis and Cornyn are doing here is ludicrous."
— JBL (21:58–23:14)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

“[Blanche] shepherded this anti weaponization fund through ... this gigantic pot of federal money to do payouts. A slush fund to people who had claims that they had been wronged ... And what that primarily meant was the President and his family and people around him ... and more obviously, January Sixers.”
— Andrew Egger (04:10–05:31)
“If this were just between me and, and Todd Blanch, we would have worked this out, but apparently he’s getting some pushback from higher ups at the White House. I don’t know who, but this doesn’t need to be this hard.”
— John Cornyn (07:24)
“The idea that, well, we signed a piece of paper with Donald Trump means that it’s over. Is he stupid?”
— JBL (08:12)
“It’s not just that this anti weaponization fund is or would be bad if it were real. It is also so psychotic that the plan was ever thought up, that it was ever launched, that it was ever ... to settle a personal lawsuit that Trump had brought against the IRS in his personal capacity.”
— Andrew Egger (09:25)
“Nothing makes me as mad as this, Andrew. Nothing. What are you protecting Thom Tillis? You’re done. They hate you. This gang stomped you out and you’re protecting them.”
— JBL (17:29)
“...the more [Republicans] supplicate themselves to [Trump], the less he respects you, because it’s so obviously like, servile, clownish behavior.”
— Andrew Egger (20:39)
“What Trump is saying makes all the sense in the world. ... And you know what? If your view of the Republican Party pre-Trump was that it’s filled with guys like Cornyn and Tillis, and then Trump comes along and you’re just like, well, you know, says what he means, like, okay, I get it.”
— JBL (21:58–22:40)

Key Timestamps

01:13–03:16 — Background on Blanche, Tillis, and Cornyn’s political predicament
03:36–07:22 — Explainer on the anti-weaponization fund and why it’s so controversial
07:24–08:12 — Cornyn’s on-the-record objections
09:07–10:11 — JBL’s skepticism about “written assurances” from Trump World
12:39–14:00 — Trump’s Truth Social message and Cornyn’s response
15:00–16:19 — Analysis of Blanche’s strategy for MAGA credibility
17:01–17:29 — Cornyn and advisers, blame-shifting game
18:51–19:47 — JBL and Egger dissect Tillis’s baffling strategy and mindset
21:58–23:14 — JBL’s closing thoughts on why Trump’s bluntness attracts GOP voters

Conclusion

JBL and Andrew Egger pull back the curtain on the toxic dynamics of today’s GOP, where job-saving maneuvering and performative resistance are overshadowed by Trump’s ruthless dominance. The Blanche nomination fight encapsulates the dysfunction and self-defeating positions of the party’s remaining skeptics, providing a compelling explanation for Trump’s continued grip on the Republican base.

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Transcript43 lines

[00:00]
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[00:45]
JBL
Todd Blanche is in trouble. Hello, friends. I'm JBL here with my bulwark colleague and author of the Morning Shots newsletter, Andrew Egger. Andrew, on Capitol Hill today, they were supposedly going to start moving good old Todd Blanche, very strong charism, acting Attorney General, start moving him through the confirmation process only to have things stopped at the last minute. Andrew, before we start, would you like to set the stage?
[01:14]
Andrew Egger
Yeah. So what we have here, this is the guy who is obviously currently serving as the acting Attorney General. He's been that way since Pam Bondi was run out of town by the president earlier this year. But, but, but Trump has been trying to make it official. Trump has been trying to get his confirmation through the Senate. Um, he has run into a perhaps surprising amount of resistance from a couple of senators. Not that surprising once you realize the very, very small concessions that these senators are trying to get out of Blanche, which, which Trump and the federal government seem disinclined to give them. Um, but, but, but surprising. Just, just against the normal backdrop of, of GOP quiescence to everything that, that Trump wants them to do. But that all came to a head today. Blanchett is confir. Weeks ago, the committee, the Judiciary Committee was supposed to vote him out of committee today, but you have two senators who are saying, until we get a couple of these very small concessions, which apparently we haven't been able to get yet because of the White House, we're a no go on it. So Trump is punting.
[02:19]
JBL
Those senators are Cornyn and Tillis, both of whom Donald Trump has driven out of political life. Is that fair to say?
[02:29]
Andrew Egger
Yes, they are both lame. Ducked out. Cornyn lost his primary. He's a senator from Texas, lost his primary earlier this year after Trump dangled an endorsement in front of him for months to make him do all kinds of embarrassing things and jump through hoops and try to rename interstates after the president and things like this, but then endorsed his primary opponent, Ken Paxton. Cornyn has now lost that primary. He will be leaving Congress next year, leaving the Senate next year. Same with Thom Tillis, who, rather than go through that whole song and dance, took the somewhat more dignified, although more defeatist approach of just retiring. Did not actually wait around for Trump to pick him. A primary challenger saw the writing on the wall there and said, I'm done. I will also be leaving next year of my own free will.
[03:17]
JBL
And the sticking point here seems to be they want the weaponization fund to be put to bed officially. And the White House seems to want to say, yeah, okay, sure, but not actually put that in writing. Correct?
[03:37]
Andrew Egger
Yes. And I, to be honest, I have had a hard time wrapping my mind around this because it really did seem during Blanche's confirmation hearing a couple of weeks ago and during some, Some testimony prior to that as well, that this thing had been put to bed, that the White House put up a trial balloon about this. This was a big part of Blanche's audition to be Trump's real nominee for the permanent post of Attorney General, is that he shepherded this anti weaponization fund through. I assume people remember this unless. Unless you were either living under a rock or refresh them.
[04:08]
JBL
We've had 87 scandals since then.
[04:10]
Andrew Egger
I know you found your mind, like, bludgeoned, you know, completely insensate by all this other shit that's going on. But the anti weaponization fund, if you do or don't remember, what was this unbelievably corrupt and appalling deal that Blanch and Company put forward to settle a personal lawsuit that Trump had brought against the IRS in his personal capacity that would have created this gigantic pot of federal money to do payouts. A slush fund to people who had claims that they had been wronged by the quote, unquote, weaponization of the Justice Department under President Biden. And what that primarily meant was the President and his family and people around him, even though the President personally would have been barred from collecting from this directly. But, but, you know, people in. In his orbit who felt like they had been unjustly prosecuted for crimes, and then even more obviously, January Sixers, people who stormed the Capitol at his behest and command, you know, in order to stop him from no longer being the president, in order to stop the 2020 election from being certified, and who then correctly found themselves prosecuted, and many of them found themselves jailed because they'd been convicted of the crimes they committed in connection to that riot and to that insurrection attempt. Not only did these people get pardoned as soon as Trump came back into office, every single one of them, even those who had assaulted Capitol Police officers and things. But according to the plan of this anti weaponization fund which was launched, it wasn't just planned, it was announced, launched, they were moving forward with it. These people would have been eligible for financial taxpayer restitution for the pains that, for their troubles, essentially for the pains they had suffered. Blanche pulled the plug on this after it became clear not. Not only that there was going to be a lot of GOP resistance to, to this plan ever happening. In fact, there were a lot of, there was a lot of talk about even creating new legislation to block this thing from ever going into effect. But not only that, he quickly, kind of quickly became clear to him that it was imperiling his own possible future confirmation. And so he told the Senate at a couple different points in his testimony, just kidding, we're, we're shelving this. We're putting it on mothballs. You're never going to have to worry about it again. And that seemed to be the end of it until now, until Blanche came back around to Congress to get the votes that he needed in the Senate for this confirmation. He only needs 50 votes and, and found out that a couple of these senators were wanted a little more than just him saying in a congressional hearing that they had no intention of reviving this fund. He wanted a written declaration. They both wanted a written declaration from the Justice Department that this fund would not be moving forward as opposed to just, no, we're not planning on that right now. And apparently, apparently this is something that matters enough to some important people in the White House that they are willing to keel haul their own, their own Attorney General nomination for, rather than give what, by all appearances should be just one more practical reassurance of this thing that they have supposedly already abandoned. So it's just a crazy situation, basically, any way you look at it.
[07:23]
JBL
Let's hear from John Cornyn.
[07:24]
John Cornyn
If this were just between me and, and Todd Blanch, we would have worked this out, but apparently he's getting some pushback from higher ups at the White House. I don't know who, but this doesn't need to be this hard.
[07:40]
JBL
What have you heard from the White House and what have you heard from the Justice Department?
[07:43]
John Cornyn
Well, we made, they, they made a proposal last night. We made a counter proposal, and we thought we basically had met in the middle, but heard this morning that that was all off.
[07:55]
Andrew Egger
So he doesn't want to put it in writing.
[07:57]
John Cornyn
Is that what it is? That's basically it yeah. And it's what he testified to under oath. So it's not like this is something new and different. And it causes me concern if they don't want to put it in writing that this is not something that is going to be enforceable in the long term.
[08:13]
JBL
I, I just have one question for you, Andrew. How does putting it in writing make it enforceable? I mean, Bobby Kennedy said a whole bunch of things under oath and he went back on all of them. The Trump administration signed a deal with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the House of Saud, to begin selling nuclear stuff to them so they can begin their civilian nuclear program. And then after they signed the deal, the Trump administration was like, no, actually they have to recognize Israel too. And Saudi's response was, you know, I'm sorry, bro, we signed the deal. There ain't no renegotiation. It's right here. We got the paper. But that doesn't mean they're going to get it right. I mean, the idea that, well, we signed a piece of paper with Donald Trump means that it's over. Is he stupid?
[09:07]
Andrew Egger
Yeah, I mean, I totally take your point on that. I guess the counterargument is like, what else could you expect to get? Like, what would be better than better than that? It seems to me that you're not
[09:17]
JBL
going to get anything and so don't confirm him. Like, that's, that's why, like, if what you care about is this, like, if, if you care about this, then the answer is no, we're not going to confirm you.
[09:26]
Andrew Egger
And that is the funny subtext of all of this, right, is, is it's like this. It's not just that this anti weaponization fund is or would be bad if it were real. It is also so psychotic that the plan was ever thought up, that it was ever launched, that it was ever like the brainchild of this man, Todd Blanche, to be like, you know what I think the President would really go for that would really make him want to put me in this job permanently, is if I, if I did this insanely corrupt deal and that, that all these guys, including Tillis and Cornyn, are willing to basically say, well, you know, I'm not going to hold it against you that you tried to shove this down our throats. I just want, I just want the tiniest little bit of reassurance that you won't try to do this exact one again.
[10:11]
JBL
I want you to. Promise. Promise. You want to. Well, we're okay with all the Epstein cover up stuff. We're okay with the fact that you're the president's lawyer. We're okay, you know, like, we're going to come up with one thing that you could satisfy us with to make it look like we held your feet to the fire when I just. Andrew, what do they care? They hate Donald Trump. Donald Trump hates them. Is nobody in Washington motivated by spite anymore?
[10:42]
Andrew Egger
It's so surreal to see a guy like Cornyn who is like, you know, you're sort of typical, like deals oriented legislator who loves to get in there and, you know, hash out an omnibus or, or whatever. He spent a lot of time in GOP leadership and he's talking about this deal like, like you talk about that. Like, you know, like, oh, we've got this, we've got this, this little bit of distance between us on marginal tax rates or on, or on this piece of policy or on that piece of, you know, you know, that, that different trade apparatus or whatever. And we got in the room last night and we thought we were pretty close. And then this morning they came back and we're not as close as we thought we were going to get there. But what we're talking about is giving money to people who beat up police officers on January 6th. I mean, like, we are so far through the looking glass on this stuff. It's crazy.
[11:28]
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[12:39]
JBL
The other half of this, Andrew, is the promise of immunity, right, for future prosecutions against Trump and his family for the irs. Anyway, about an hour after the Cornyn interview, we just saw, we got a Truth Social tweet from Donald J. Trump. I'll read it for you. Friends, Todd Blanche is a star and everyone knows it. He has the potential to go down as one of the greatest attorney generals of all time. However, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, both of whom I refuse to endorse and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this great nominee who will remain in any event as acting. Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland and others too numerous to mention. I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name if they do not do the right thing and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office. President DONALD J. Trump. Okay, and we then get a response from Cornyn. Potus is mistaken if he believes my concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis. I don't, I don't think he's mistaken, Andrew. I think the President is right. The only people who object are the ones standing up and saying the object. Everybody else has swallowed it.
[14:00]
Andrew Egger
It depends what, what specific thing you're referring to. I think these are the only two guys who are willing to hold up Blanche in, at this moment in time. I think that if you were to see them actually try to dust this policy off based on all the reporting we were getting, you know, when this, when this was first a live issue, I mean, the White House backtracked on this very quickly in a way they would not have had to do if it were only Tillis and Cornyn, like these two people who had already kind of become Persona non grata in Trump world. There was a lot of talk about half the Republican conference perhaps being willing to, like, actually stand up and be. No, I'm serious. Like, like, like. Sure, Jan. Not to, not to go to the, not to go to the microphones and, and, you know, talk about it the way it actually was, which is like this true, genuine, appalling assault on the rule of law and like, this attempt to make good evil and evil good, like that, that was never going to happen. But in terms of potentially getting behind some kind of amendment to some kind of must pass piece of legislation that would block the fund from going into effect, I mean, that's the Kind of stuff that, that we were hearing a lot about. And it backed the White House off, at least at that time. So, so I don't know. I mean, I do think the one other point that I'd make is that I think it's interesting that Blanche, I mean, I think he has actually played this pretty well from, from his own personal, selfish point of view of how do I cement my place as Donald Trump's candidate in this race. Because again, like I keep saying, that was what this fund was about since the very beginning. And now even though the fund has sort of fallen apart and self destructed, he has succeeded in now picking this fight, like casting his nomination fight as him carrying the, the, the, the, the bloody flag of MAGA forward against these two in Trump's mind, rhinos in Cornyn and Tillis. I mean, like, there were a lot of people out in MAGA world who, whose opinion of Todd Blanche was. This is a rhino in disguise. This is just like a, a hotshot, smooth lawyer who's not really a true believer, who wants to get in there, who's going to bill bar us one of these days, you know, and, and show his true colors when the President needs him most.
[16:00]
JBL
And I feel pretty, pretty safe in saying that Todd Blanch will not pull up a bill bar.
[16:06]
Andrew Egger
I agree with that. I agree with that. I'm just saying that was the kind of MAGA chatter that Blanche was trying to inoculate himself against with this whole gimmick. And I think he has succeeded in that cynical play.
[16:19]
JBL
Well, and to your, to your point that Blanche has actually been quite, quite savvy about this, he's managed to do that while also managing to make Tillis and Cornyn think that he's actually on their side and he's the reasonable one. Here's Tillis action.
[16:38]
John Cornyn
As the President's getting bad advice, he should listen to Blanche and others who think if it's dead, it should be rendered completely dead.
[16:44]
Andrew Egger
What do you mean he's getting bad advice?
[16:46]
JBL
I mean, this is the President making
[16:47]
John Cornyn
a decision to not do what Blanche said, said they were going to do. Whoever that person is, is giving the President bad advice. The only reason why we wouldn't move forward with this language is because that same advisor wants to bring it back to life at some point.
[17:02]
JBL
I'm saying the advisors, but it's the President.
[17:05]
John Cornyn
You can draw that conclusion, Manu, and I can draw one that's got my eyes on the target.
[17:10]
JBL
Oh, his eyes are on the target, Andrew. What does that mean? If Only Comrade Stalin knew. If only his advisors would really tell him what was going on, he would never liquidate the kulaks.
[17:25]
Andrew Egger
I.
[17:29]
JBL
Nothing makes me as mad as this, Andrew. Nothing. What are you protecting Thom Tillis? You're done. They hate you. This gang stomped you out and you're protecting them.
[17:42]
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[17:42]
JBL
It drives me crazy. Absolutely crazy. John Fetterman doesn't treat his Democratic colleagues with this much deference as Tom Tillis does with the guy who ended his career. I don't understand.
[17:58]
Andrew Egger
Yeah. Even just from a strategic point of view, it just seems totally bewildering. There are two main actors here, and both of their motivations are completely intelligible and obvious. And it's Blanche and Trump. And Blanche, as we keep talking about, this whole thing's his baby. He's the guy with his signature on the paperwork for this anti weaponization fund. From the very beginning, he was the guy who was trotted out there to defend it at various points. And then obviously it is all at Trump's best, you know, like everything else is in this government. So we have to. We have to gin up this. This, like, fan fiction about how there's some different secret third party who's out there. Like, like, like Blanche. I did not realize this. I had not noticed this until you pointed it out. Queuing that clip up. The way that Tillis was loops Blanche in as. As like a reasonable party in this interaction. And presumably the President would be, too, if it weren't for the fact that he were getting this advice from some mystery man who just really wants to give the J6ers their flowers.
[18:52]
JBL
What is Thom Tillis think he's protecting here? Because it's like he's acting like he's trying to keep Trump from being. Trump has made it clear his view, his. His message to Thom Tillis. Fuck you. Like, that's. It's not like he. He. Trump has no problem being like, Tom Tillis. Who's this guy? I ended his career. He sucks, and he's gone. And Tom Tillis like, well, trying to protect you. Just get better. Who. This is what I don't understand, Andrew. What is the play if you're Tom Tillis and you're going to be a cuck, just get in the chair and be a cuck, right? Or. Or go along with it. Because whatever. You know, my. Is what my guess. But this weird Twilight like, well, I'm going to hold it up, but I'm not going to really hold it up because even if they give me the thing I want they can still do it sometime, but I'm going to cause a little bit of. It's mystifying. Why? What is he playing?
[19:48]
Andrew Egger
To me, it's a little bit less like this bank shot. I'm going to try to woo the President by continuing to defend his. His honor sort of before an audience of the American people. I think it's just a little bit more like lizard brain and Pavlovian than that. He knows that if he were to directly attack the President, and the President were to see that, it would just be the very end of any possible movement toward what he wants to get in this. In this department. And you've seen these guys play this game for years. Sometimes it works a little bit, usually it doesn't. They always kind of try to trick themselves into believing it's the high percentage play in any given interaction, because what else are they supposed to do other than, you know, try to reinvent themselves as, like, resistance hero Republicans, and none of them are interested in that sort of thing. But, yeah, I mean, like, this is exactly the strategy that we were just talking about. Cornyn tried for months and months and months and months in his own primary. You know, just wrapping himself in the MAGA flag over and over again, doing all of this stuff to butter up the President. There's this weird thing for Trump, like, on a personal level, and we've seen this psychologically with a lot of different Republicans over the years, and is that he demands that you completely supplicate yourself to him in this way. Like, he, it is, it is absolutely like the first and last thing you have to do even to get in the room. But as soon as you do it, and the more you keep doing it, the. And the more he observes you doing it, the less he respects you, because it's so obviously like, servile, clownish behavior. And like, there's. There's no real way to stay in his good books other than what a very, very few people who he perceives to actually be bringing something to the table that he himself does not already have, have been able to do over the years, guys like Stephen Miller. But for the most part, this is the bind that all these guys find themselves in. There's no way out. I'm sure there's a part of Cornyn and a part of Tillis that is glad to finally be on their way out of here and are just trying to get a couple last little things to soothe their consciences, even as they try not to make too many waves so as to not have Too many headaches in retirement. It's a little bit of a balance between. Between, you know, the soothing their own heads and soothing their own hearts for their. For their last years here on earth.
[21:59]
JBL
You know, regular listeners or readers of my. My newsletter, the Triad, Ding ding ding, may know that I don't have the highest opinion of people who have voted for Donald Trump three times now. But I gotta say, this episode, I think, is a perfectly good explanation for why Republican voters choose Trump. Because if you look at Donald Trump in this situation and then you look at Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, Thom Tillis and John Cornyn's position is ludicrous. And they clearly are either idiots or weaklings or cowards or fools. Like, nothing they're doing or saying here makes any sense. What Trump is saying makes all the sense in the world. He's just open, right? Like he wants this thing. These other guys are mooks. Who cares? And you know what? If your view of the Republican Party pre Trump was that it's filled with guys like Cornyn and Tillis, and then Trump comes along and you're just like, well, you know, says what he means, like, okay, I get it. Because what Tillis and Cornyn are doing here is ludicrous. All right, guys, hit like, hit. Subscribe, follow the channel. We'll be back with more good news. Because it's always good news. Good luck, America.
[23:22]
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