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Get started@vanta.com right around midnight last night, Donald Trump and Todd Blanche tried to pull a massive scheme. I'll get into it in a moment. Just look at what Donald Trump looked like though as he was leaving Bedminster. You see how awful he looked. He looked like absolute death right there. I mean, was he wearing a bulletproof vest? What the hell was happening? Any event, Donald Trump surrendered to Iran. He said he was going to blow them up and then he said, I'm going to make a deal. He lied about the conversations with Iran.
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We know that.
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Trump's pathetic. Zero credibility. Speaking of which, though, Donald Trump is trying to Get Todd Blanche confirmed as the ATT General. Currently he's the acting Attorney General. Two Republican senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Cornyn and Senator Tillis have said they won't confirm Todd Blanch as the Attorney General unless he rescinds the settlement agreement that Trump entered into with the federal government on May 18 and May 19. On May 18, Trump did this settlement for a so called anti Weaponization Fund $1.776 billion to J6 insurrectionist May19. The addendum provided a waiver of Trump's tax liability. It said that Trump, his kids, Trump Organization essentially never have to pay taxes from the date of the settlement agreement going back. They can't be investigated, they can't be audited. So that settlement agreement May 18, May 19 had two components and according to Senator Cornyn and Tillis, they would not confirm Todd Blanche unless and until the settlement agreement is rescinded. Todd Blanche though, was not doing that. Donald Trump was not allowing Todd Blanche to do that. So instead, last night, right around midnight, Todd Blanche announces, look at this order I'm doing. And he posts this order. And this order purports to basically rescind the prior order from May 18 regarding the weaponization fund, the J6 Anti Weaponization Fund. But it has nothing to do with the waiver of Donald Trump's tax l and the waiver of auditing Donald Trump for tax fraud. Let me show you what Todd Blanche posted. And what Todd Blanche posted is completely unenforceable. And so it does not rescind the settlement agreements from May 18 and May 19. Far from it. It actually affirms the existence of the May 19 addendum which waives all tax liability by Donald Trump and Donald Trump's kids and the Trump Organization. So if any makes things worse. So here was Todd Blanche post. I'll just share it with you. He posted this right around 11:20. He said, My team and I have met with committee members and senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions. We have enjoyed good faith discussions and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement. The department always welcomes and appreciates productive engagement with all members of Congress. Just you see the language that he uses, right? That we are issuing the following order and update should be noted. I mean, he's doing it at midnight. Why would you be doing it at midnight if you actually want transparency and also don't issue the following order and update. We don't need an order and update. What we need is a document that says the settlement agreements from May 18 and the May 19 addendum are hereby rescinded and that Donald Trump, Eric Trump, Don Jr. The Trump Organization, all of the Trump trusts do not have any right to not have audits conducted and they have to pay their taxes. And that's what it needs to actually say. It just needs to say the May 18 and May 19 settlement agreement is rescinded and it has to be signed by all of the parties to be enforceable. Because the May 18th settlement agreement says the only way the agreement could be modified as it requires signatures of all parties. So if just Todd Blanche signs, it's unenforceable. And here Todd Blanche is the only signatory to this. Thus it is unenforceable. You can see what Todd Blanche post here. First he posts this order August 2, 2026. It says the Attorney General's May 18, 2026 order establishing the Anti Weaponization Fund is rescinded and shall have no force or effect. B. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this order is intended to contradict or otherwise be contrary to prior representations by the Department of Justice that the fund is not operative. No members were appointed, no funds were transferred. No process for receiving claims was established. No claims were paid. Nevertheless, several frivolous laws have been filed challenging the fund, and at least one court has declined to dismiss those claims as moot. This order establishes beyond any doubt that there is no fund. Let me be very clear. The lawsuits against the fund are not frivolous. How do we know that? Because Todd Blanche lost in that case. A preliminary injunction was granted against Blanche blocking the Anti Weaponization fund. That was a federal trial in or a federal case in Virginia. There was also a case that Trump brought in Florida in the Southern District, where Judge Kathleen Williams found the settlement agreement to be collusive in the first instance. So when Todd Blanche says at least one court has declined to dismiss those claims as moot, even that phrasing right there is inappropriate because the court granted a preliminary injunction and found that more likely than not, the January 6th Anti Weaponization Fund was illegal and impro. So that's the order. Notice what the order does not say. It says nothing about the release of claims against Donald Trump and Trump's kids and the Trump Organization for not paying taxes. The provision that says Trump doesn't get audited, the provision that allows Trump and his kids to not pay taxes from the date of the agreement going back. So let's look at the other document filed around midnight by Todd Blanch the acting AG and he's doing this in order to try to get confirmed. There's a hearing on Tuesday in order to get him out of the Judiciary Committee. And the question is, is this what Cornyn and Tillis are going to be okay with? It's like a fraudulent document right here. And notice the August 2, 2026 document I just showed you is only signed by Todd Blanche. It's not signed by the parties, and it has to be signed by all of the parties in order for there to be a modification. So it's not even an enforceable agreement. I also find it notable that if you were to deem this enforceable, which I don't believe it's enforceable, Trump is saying he's going to throw the insurrectionists under the bus. He promised them the Anti Weaponization Fund, but he says, we don't want that. But I do want to make sure I protect me and Don Jr. And Eric and the Trump Organization from having to pay taxes from the date of the agreement going back. Let's take a look at this. There's two documents that Blanche posted around midnight last night. And again, just to set the scene again, you had Donald Trump yesterday. He was in Bedminster. He threw himself golf tournaments. He claimed that he came in first place in both the senior division and in the regular club division. He claims he shot a 70, which is an absolute lie. That's supposed to make him feel good. He looked like crap, looked like he was wearing a bulletproof vest as he was leaving. He awarded himself trophies. He surrendered to Iran. America has no more allies in the world. It's utterly pathetic. And this is what he's doing. The second document Todd Blanche filed, Department of Justice Rescinds Anti Weaponization Order and addresses the May 19 release. What do you mean, addresses? No, it should say rescinds the May 19 release. That's the addendum that waves Trump and his kids tax liability. What do you mean addresses the May 19 release? It should say rescinds, eliminates. This should say Department of Justice rescinds Anti Weaponization order and rescinds May 19th release. So just think about the heading right there. Then it says the following. The Department of Justice today announced that the Acting Attorney General general rescinded the May 18, 2026 order that established the Anti Weaponization Fund. Right. May 18 Anti Weaponization Fund. May 19 Addendum Wave Trump, Trump's kids, Trump organizations, tax liability, tax investigations, no audits. It allows Trump basically not to pay taxes from the day of the agreement going back in Time, that could be billions of dollars, especially given all the quid pro quo deals that Donald Trump has done, the 21,000 stock trades. Right. Because Trump will say, well, I'm not going to pay taxes and you're waiving all claims against me for not paying taxes from the date of the agreement going back in time. And, you know, I'm not going to pay taxes on things that go back before that. Let's keep on reading what Blanche says right over here. Although the acting attorney general has repeatedly advised Congress through testimony, including under oath, as well as in written responses, that the fund is not moving forward, and the department has repeatedly represented to district courts that the fund is not moving forward. Moving forward. Today's order officially rescinds the May 18, 2026 order. Okay, well, what about the May 19 addendum saying that Trump doesn't have to pay taxes basically, or he can't be investigated for not paying taxes. Further, the May 19, 2026 order regarding a mutual release of claims applies by its terms only retroactively. So it says right there it applies by its terms. The release applies by its terms only retroactively. So they're just saying from the date of the agreement going back in time. By the way, they don't need to state that. That's just the way settlement agreements work. You can't waive or release future claims. It's what's called the 1542 waiver in California. You release the known and unknown claims from the date of the agreement going back. Let's keep on reading it. Additionally, the terms lawfare and or weaponization in that order were already defined in the settlement agreement as the use of government's power to target individual individuals, groups and entities for improper and unlawful political, personal and or ideological reasons. So what they're saying is here they're incorporating by reference language from the settlement agreement into this, recognizing and affirming that Trump doesn't have to pay his taxes. So they're not rescinding or eliminating the agreement. In fact, they're affirming it and they're saying the language applies. Guys, let's keep on reading. The acting attorney general stands by all of his July 15, 2026 Senate Judiciary Committee testimony, including answers to questions asked by Senator Cornyn related to the scope and applicability of the May 19, 2026 order. Pause. Remember what Blanche said. Blanche said Donald Trump would have the ability to challenge the agreement being rescinded if it was not signed by all of the parties. Blanche said that Trump has the ability if he wanted to to say that unless all of the parties signed it, the agreement is not rescinded. So what Blanche is doing here is putting another poison pill to give Trump more arguments to basically say, yeah, this is an unenforceable document right here, because Blanche made it clear that Trump could still, you know, sue and say that I have all of the rights to not pay my taxes. Let's keep on reading it. A transcript of the Acting Attorney General's testimony is attach. He incorporates that testimony by reference and restates that it is the DOJ's interpretation that the order only has any effect, including on any release of claims, on the name parties in the lawsuit referenced in the order. So once again, they're saying it only has an impact on the Trumps and their claims are released and the claims against them are released, meaning the doj, the irs, the treasury can never go after the Trumps for not paying their taxes. From the date of the the agreement going back. I mean, it's pretty crystal clear right there. Take a look at the May 18th agreement for yourself, just so you can see it for yourself. And take a Look at paragraph 8, where you can see it says modifications right here. It says the settlement agreement may be modified only with written agreement of the parties. So the May 18 agreement was signed by a lawyer on behalf of Donald Trump. It's odd that Trump didn't sign it and just some lawyer named Daniel Epstein signed on Trump's behalf for plaintiffs, remember, Eric Trump's a plaintiff, the Trump Organization's a plaintiff. And then signing on behalf of the DOJ is Stanley Woodward. So you have both parties signing it, and then now you only have Todd Blanche signing it. So it's not signed by the parties. It's not a rescission of the settlement agreement. To rescind the settlement agreement, you would do one sentence. The settlement agreement dated May 18 and May 19 is hereby rescinded, signed all of the parties, and they each sign it. That's not what this is. And by the way, the order that Todd Blanche just issued can always be overturned. It doesn't say that the order can't be overturned. So this is the order today. The moment Todd Blanche is confirmed, he'll just overturn the order and say, well, now I do a new order. And the order never purported to rescind the settlement agreements, so the settlement agreements remain in effect. You have to rescind the settlement agreements, not just do an order saying that the May 18th order doesn't apply. So you all see what went down, right There. So that's the scam that they tried to pull. And then meanwhile, you have Donald Trump posting weird AI images of himself like this with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln using the symbolism of the United States while he engages in this absolute fraud. He posted these weird videos of himself claiming that he shot a 70 and came in first place. Meanwhile, you want to know what's happening in the United States right now? The 10 year treasury yields move closer to 5%. The 30 year yields move closer to 5.5%. The US had to bail out the Japanese yen. We had to put billions of dollars hurting our dollar, but try to bail out the Japanese yen because we're terrified that they might have to sell treasury bonds and that will further destroy the bond market right now here in the United States. So you have that going on. You have Pete Hegseth saying fact that the Department of War was ready to go and remains ready at levels not seen since World War II. Locked and loaded as Donald Trump was like, we were ready to destroy Iran with things that would be worse than World War II. What are you talking about? Nuclear bombs? What do you mean that would be worse than the World War II and Hiroshima, Nagasaki? Is that what you're implying? But then Iran reached out and they wanted to do a deal with us. I mean, he's so pathetic. He lies about absolutely everything. You look at his schedule today, it's mostly all closed to the press while he pulls these schemes, while he pulls these stunts, this market manipulation right before our eyes. I just wanted to cue you in for yourself and just again take one more look at the video of Donald Trump believing Benminster. Look how horrible he looked. Anyway, that's what I got for you. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Get your copy. By the way, of WTF America, which I wrote with my brothers called WTF America? Pre order it right now, hit the QR code or there's a link in the description below. It really helps to do the pre orders. Thanks for watching. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Hey, if you want the full story, how democracy got here and how we take it back, pre order our new book, WTF America Today. Just scan the QR code or click the link in the description. Let's do this.
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Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it Turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try@mintmobile.com switch upfront payment
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Com.
Episode: Trump Pulls Midnight DOJ Scheme as Pressure Mounts
Date: August 3, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas
This episode dives into a dramatic late-night move by Donald Trump and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who attempted to issue unenforceable legal orders to protect the former president and his associates from tax liability and prior settlement agreements, all in the context of mounting pressure in the Senate to rescind controversial deals. Ben Meiselas unpacks the legal maneuvering and political fallout, exposing what he characterizes as a "massive scheme” designed for Trump’s personal protection amid ongoing investigations.
Order’s Content and Flaws:
Legal Analysis:
Notable Language:
“Nothing in this order is intended to contradict or otherwise be contrary to prior representations...that the fund is not operative. No members were appointed…No funds were transferred…” (06:20)
Trump’s Public Posturing (13:00–15:00):
Economic & Political Fallout:
Ben delivers a rapid, detailed, and highly skeptical legal and political analysis, blending meticulous procedural critique with biting humor and pointed asides about Trump’s public image. The tone is unapologetically critical, incredulous, and urgent, emphasizing transparency and the legal stakes for American democracy.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone following the evolving legal saga around Donald Trump, the controversial DOJ settlements, and the intersection of politics and law in today’s America. The hosts’ energetic, sometimes acerbic delivery makes dense legal maneuvering palatable and highlights the ongoing threat to accountability in government.
If you want to understand why political machinations like midnight DOJ-orders matter—and why signatures really matter legally—this episode dissects it all with clarity, comedy, and a call to action.