Senate Dems Ready to Torch Todd Blanche at Confirmation Hearing

More than 1,200 former DOJ staff employees object to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche becoming the Attorney General of the United States. More than 40 civil rights organizations object to Todd Blanche becoming the Attorney General of the United States. Dozens of Epstein victims and survivors object to Todd Blanche becoming the... Attorney General of the United States. The United States Bar Association of which Todd Blanche is a member objects. The law bar association of which Todd Blanche is a member objects to Todd Blanche becoming the Attorney General of the United States. Federal judges, multiple, at least three, have entered orders finding that Todd Blanche has violated the law, several laws. And you would think that that would be enough. And yet, and yet, it boils down to just numbers. It boils down to just a numbers game. None of this is a game. Civil rights, rule of law. institutional competence, decency, integrity, none of that is a game. And yet for somebody like convicted felon, Donald Trump, he doesn't care about any of those concepts. He only cares which loyalists can I install who will ensure that my agenda is achieved. And right now, right now, Donald Trump thinks he has found his Roy Cohn. It wasn't Michael Cohen. It wasn't Bill Barr. Jeff Sessions. Certainly wasn't Pam and Joe with the bad hair. Todd Blanche, I have always said. Trump has viewed him as being battle tested. He has really been in the trenches, if you will, with Todd Blanche. And as I've always said, too, Pam and Joe got fired because she was really, really bad at being bad, but Todd Blanche is really, really good at being bad. And so Trump is rewarding that loyalty by nominating Todd Blanche to be the Attorney General of the United States. And that Senate confirmation hearing is about to take place on Wednesday, July 15th and Thursday, July 16th. And all of the people that I have just mentioned at the beginning of this episode, they've all filed objections. They've all sent letters. They've sent petitions. They are definitely letting the world know what they think about Todd Blanche. And with the death of Lindsey Graham over the weekend, how has that changed the voting balance, excuse me, for Senate judiciary? I had to ask. I had to know. And so I invited Senator Cory Booker to join me because that is, that is the most pivotal, important job. I'd say second only to vice president, even then, I think being attorney general is more powerful. Why? Because felon Trump can want to do all sorts of bad things. He can want investigations into what he deems to be political enemies. He can want grand jury subpoenas to be served on reporters because he doesn't like their reporting. He can do all of those things.

He can want them, he can desire them, but the real implementation and the execution has to happen by a Department of Justice that has been weaponized and it must be led by somebody who has no scruples and is willing, is a willing idiot to do the work. Useful idiot. Listen, not all idiots mean they're just stupid. It just means they're willing participants, right? And in this instance, that is Todd Blanche. So Senator Burkin and I talk about not only the impending Todd Blanche nomination, uh, confirmation hearing, but we also talk about this incredible lawsuit that's been brought by 12 state attorneys general to block the merger of Warner Brothers Paramount. It's important. It's important. It's yet another way that the rule of law is standing in the breach and saying not today, Satan. Take a listen to my conversation with Senator Cory Booker. Joining me now with Senator Cory Booker. Senator, there is a lot of breaking news that I actually wanted to share with you with our viewers. Let's start with the thing that just came across my feed. We have a group of Democratic attorneys general, including the amazing Rob Bonsa from the state of California, filing a lawsuit to block the merger between Warner Brothers Paramount. Your thoughts, because that's something that I've spent time with you in an incredible shadow hearing to testify against. We were waiting to see if these AGs were going to step up and do this. And it seems to me that they have a pretty strong argument that this merger is anti-competitive and that it really doesn't have any business going across the finish line. Yeah, well, you were both predictive and prescient because... When we got to the issue of what can we do, there was a list of things, but one of them was, this ain't over yet because we still haven't heard from attorney generals around the country. Rob Bonta and I are classmates way back in the day. Somehow he's kept all his hair. I didn't keep all mine. But he is an extraordinary leader, and we've seen some others join him to say the obvious that this merger has real issues. And so to me, it's a celebration that they filed this. They brought a lot of things forward. that the DOJ should have concerned themselves with. And so hopefully now they will find a just day in court. Well, and I'm so glad you brought up the DOJ because we are going to talk about the Todd Blanche nomination in a few minutes, but I wanted to highlight a little bit of the language that was coming out of this lawsuit. Again, it was brought by 12 states to block this merger, and the lawsuit points to specifically three areas of competition. Why release film distribution, anticipated Blockbuster film distribution, and cable channel licensing, basically saying that this merger would lessen competition in those.

areas. You know, look, let's speak plainly as you and I do. The biggest issue here is not only would it stifle creativity and would really kind of vanilla things up, maybe one-note things, but it would cost a lot of damn money for consumers. And I think that's really something that people need to understand. With a debt load of $110 billion on this merger, you got to pass the cost down somewhere and it's not going to go up. That's where the are going to go, but to make a profit, you got to make that money, the cost of all of it, go down to the consumer. Well, let's set aside the other, I think, concerns that we brought up, including the amount of foreign money that's invested should have triggered a review on national security issues. Let's set aside those things that are not in this. And get excited about two of the biggest things that should concern Americans is one, will my access to art, to human expression, be more throttle and more constrained. We have seen in other major studio mergers, the number of merger, the number of major movies being made drops significantly. And then number two, you put it, the pain point that so many Americans are feeling right now is that costs are going up. As much as people want to try to point to a lot of other legitimate factors of your costs going up, from an unjust war in Iran to reckless chaotic tariffs. One of the reasons why costs have been going up even before this presidency was corporate concentration on everything from our food industry. to our health insurance, these concentrations of wealth and power and market power are driving of costs. And now we would see the same thing here. So those two legitimate arguments, amongst the many, there are others that are not being fought in this court case, but those should be the most compelling to the average consumer who should be concerned about their costs and concerned about the choices they have in the marketplace, the different expressions of art and artists that are going to be now throttled even more. perhaps as a result of this murder should it go through. You know, notably, Senator, these are Democratic attorneys general in those states that have brought this lawsuit. But the one thing that I always underscore when I have these conversations is the reality, which is they're not fighting for just Democrats in those states. They're fighting for every person who lives in that state to make sure that their rights are protected. In this instance, though, we should have been able to look to our national, our Department of Justice, to thoroughly investigate and determine whether or not this made the right sense for Americans writ large. And yet in this instance, the DOJ very quickly capitulated on whether or not this was going to be a kosher murder or not. Well, let me just tell you something. It's one of the biggest concerns I have, and I have many with Todd Blanche. But one of them is what was an abject pay-to-play example of corruption in another major merger. He's out having dinner with the principal parties. And even when lawyers within his own DOJ are telling him this murder merger is unjust.

He rules in favor of the big powerful corporations. And we are seeing him literally take instruction from Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth and others on this merger. When they say things, I cannot wait until this big Republican donor gets control of major media, major news outlets like they would with this merger. When someone tells you who they are, shows you who they are, believe them. This is a guy that's not going to be looking to enforce antitrust laws. He's going to be looking to do the bidding of the powerful and the president, not looking at the objective applicable law, but looking at what's best for the economic interests of a president and the personal whims that he might have regarding certain companies. And, you know, I just did an episode on my channel, Senator, about the use, the weaponization of the DOJ and specifically through Jay Clayton at the Southern District of New York to issue subpoenas to reporters at the New York Times because Trump didn't like the kind of reporting that was coming out about a $400 million jet from Qatar that was not retrofitted to be able to fully protect the commander in chief, the president of the United States. I mean, if you think about this idea. that one way to stifle or to chill free speech is to even do things like serve subpoenas to testify him grand juries, serve search warrants on the homes of a Washington Post reporter. You know, if you think about that, you're empowering the Brendan Cars of the world at the FCC. You're empowering your billionaire buddies like the Ellison's to be able to control and dictate what this media landscape ends up being. I mean, it's worse. It's worse than that. If you're a media platform that insults the present, You know, Brendan Carr is going to come after you. If you are an official that's investigating mergers, well, we've seen this Justice Department investigate my colleague, Adam Schiff. We've seen them when the president has disagreements with the head of the Fed, open up investigations into them. They have weaponized already, not just the DOJ, but the very independent agencies that are supposed to be overviewing everything from mergers. to our personal finances or the whole economy in terms of the Fed. So every American should feel a chill. And this is why this is not a partisan issue. This is not a partisan issue. People should be really concerned when a leader acts like an authoritarian. And if you disagree with them or you criticize them or you threaten their personal financial well-being, if they were going to weaponize agencies, departments. and the top law enforcement official in the land to come after you. So the backslide into autocracy just doesn't happen because of one person. You have a whole stable of enablers, as I call them. And one of the worst, the worst examples of a Trump loyalist is Todd Blanche. He's coming before your Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

He'll have a two-day appearance, man of the hour on both days. And my first question to you is, with the passing of Senator Lindsey Graham, how does that work? What is the calculus like now when it comes to votes as Senate judiciary? Because I presume that every Democrat on Senate judiciary is not going to approve Todd Blanche's nomination. Well, they'll replace Senator Lindsey Graham. And frankly, some of my worst fights with Lindsey Graham have been in the Judiciary Committee because... We often come out on the wrong side of the opposing sides on the issue. I think he on the wrong side. So I was never, he was going to do whatever Trump asked him to do. So I think they're going to put somebody else on there to make sure that they still have the numerical advantage. And they're going to try to jam this through. And it will be probably a partisan party line vote, although I'm not 100% sure. Because remember, you have someone like John Cornyn, and Thom Tillis, two people who have been liberated in the sense that they're not running for re-election and have started to show a willingness to hold Donald Trump accountable, to demand things that aren't outrageous, like that. You don't set up a slush fund for Donald Trump's personally loyal political people, people who beat police officers on January 6th and such. So there may be a sign of hope in those senators, although I'm not betting on it. My assumption is going to be that this guy's going to be confirmed and that all of those senators who say they stand on principle are going to show. that before their principles come their personal loyalty or fear of Donald Trump. We just had a federal judge say that Todd Blanche, Stan Woodward, who's the Associate Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice, private counsel. for Trump, I call him, their his fail sons, and the Trump organization that that collusive BS lawsuit against the IRS and the Department of Treasury was BS. It was bullshit. It was fraud on the court. And that slush fund is a non-starter now because there never was a controversy because the parties were not adverse to each other. How important is that going to be for the Thom Tillis and the John Cornyn and other on Senate judiciary? This is literally just two days before Todd Blanche rolls up in front of Senate. judiciary and you have another yet another federal judge who was calling out Todd Blanche for bad behavior if not totally unethical behavior he's now been referred to the bar again and this time by a federal judge it should be disqualifying it would have been disqualifying under every presidency before this and then you add to that conservative voices coming out against him you had bill crystal calling out his handling of the Epstein files and his violation of the law that we passed for disclosure and the way he, the cruelty with which he treated people who were victimized by Epstein. You've had, look at the 16,000 people who left the Department of Justice, the 1,200 former DOJ alumni from both parties, appointed under presidents of both parties, calling him out for his corruption, for the cruelty, for the culture.

that he's gone after, who've come after Donald Trump or his family members. Look at the people he's pardoned and the horrible things that they've done. We are literally watching before our eyes. A person who's going to come before the United States Senate who is going to completely take an organization that is responsible for enforcing the law where no one is above it. to making that organization being subservient to the whims of a president. That is a subversion of the law, and that is a massive sledgehammer to our democracy. Senator Brooker, before I let you go, I did want to ask you, especially in the framework of this Todd Blanche nomination, because the Department of Justice, as those human rights and those civil rights organizations have noted, the Department of Justice is no longer a defender of civil rights violators. In fact, excuse me, they're no longer a defender of civil rights. They're a defender of civil rights violators. reporting coming out, but another ice shooting, another ice killing happening in Maine. That comes on the heels of just last week, Lorenzo Sargado Arroho being gunned down in Houston. In this country for 35 years, no criminal history, an incredible, incredible father of three sons. I mean, it's, there is a measure of lawlessness now that defines this country. And it's happening at the hands of an acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, whose department will not cooperate with Minnesota over the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretty. I mean, it is. It is mind-boggling to me. And I know you said that you think that this may be a foregone conclusion, Senator But what can Americans do now, even between now and Wednesday and Thursday? Because just like we were not going to resign ourselves to this merger being a foregone conclusion, I'd like to believe that I, along with millions of Americans, will not stand for any of this, especially if Todd Blanche will just... give it a free ride to somebody like Felon Trump. What can we be doing now? So I want you to say the great thing about our country is that Americans have shown time and time again throughout our 250 years the ability to make impossible things possible. And so nothing is baked. Nothing is over until it's over, as a great New Jersey once said. And so what can you do is especially letting Republican senators know that we're watching, that we're going to hold you accountable, that you need to stand up on principle and not for a president. You stand, you sworn oath to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump.

and that you have an obligation according to the Constitution to advise and consent on the qualifications of a nominee. And if this nominee is a threat to public safety, a nominee is a threat to public integrity. If this nominee is failure to faithfully uphold the ideals of their office, then you need to to be loyal to the Constitution and vote against them. And so, again, I've seen time and time again in my lifetime where the power of the people yet again shows that it's more powerful than the people in power. So folks need to speak up. Folks need to let their voices be heard. Folks need to express their outrage at what might happen in the United States Senate. This is one of those moments. We need to construction from our history and remember that the power of the people is greater than the people in power. If we use our power, and in this case, the power that we should use is our voice, is to express our outrage, is to let folks know this isn't a partisan issue. This is not right or left. It's right or wrong. It is wrong for Todd Blanche to be the next Attorney General of the United States of America. Well, Senator Cory Booker, I appreciate you taking the time on these variety of issues. And we'll be watching incredibly carefully Wednesday and Thursday as Senate judiciary Dems, especially always are leading the charge to make sure that democracy is defended at this point. But I thank you for taking the time to join me. It's always a pleasure to be able to be with you. Thank you so much. Thank you. The pleasure is mine. And again, I so cherish you and your leadership. You are a great champion for the ideals of justice. So thank you. Thank you. Katie Fang here. We launched the Katie Fang News channel in partnership with the Midas Touch Network so we could bring you the latest in legal and political news. Straight, no chaser. So if you're a fellow truth teller, hit that subscribe button and share the word about this channel so we can build a high information America together.