'BradCast' 8/4/2026 (Cornyn, Tillis Approve Blanche for A.G. and Trump's Historic Taxpayer-Funded Heist)

Well, there's nothing we could do to reign in the president when he said he likes the fund and he wishes still exist, but the fact of the matter is dead. Actually, it's not dead, and there's plenty that you could have done, John Cornyn. From Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles, this is the broadcast. As heard on KPFK, 90.7 FM in LA, and on dozens of other fine affiliate stations over both the public airwaves and the internets around the country and the world. Blanketing Planet Earth. I'm Brad Friedman, your friendly investigative blogger, journalist, troublemaker, muckraker, and all-round, swell fellow says me from bradblog.com. We will get to John Cornyn and Thom Tillis and their pathetic gifts. To the president of the United States, that total at least $100 million, perhaps as much as $1.8 billion in the greatest heist ever by a sitting president of the American people. We'll get to that in a little bit, but welcome to the broadcast. It was Election Day on Tuesday for voters in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, and Washington State. We will have... coverage of noteworthy results and or any trouble reports. on tomorrow's broadcast as those results become available. Also, by the way, Tennessee, which apparently really does not like their voters to vote because they have their primary scheduled on a Thursday, Thursday this week, rather than on a Tuesday with those five other states. But if you live in Tennessee, please know your statewide midterm primary election is this week on Thursday. August 6. And not, by the way, as ABC 24 in Memphis is misreporting today. On Thursday, July 6th. Oh, dear. Yes. Took me a while to figure out if I had it wrong. If they had it wrong, yeah, I'm pretty sure it wasn't a month ago. That misreport comes in a story in which they warn that at least one touchscreen voting machine in Shelby County, that's Memphis.

has left a number of judicial races off the ballot during early voting. Now, I find it hard to believe, frankly, that it would be just one machine. That is doing so because these things are, you know, these all the machines are sort of given the same ballot programming. But as ABC 24 reports today, early voting has wrapped up in Shelby County with more than 90,000 people casting their ballots. Hundreds of early voters, however, were unable to vote in certain judicial races due to a voting machine error. According to the Shelby County Election Commission, the Election Commission said that the issue was caused by human error, and now officials are explaining what caused the issue and what they're doing to prevent further issues ahead of Tennessee's primary elections on Thursday, July 6. And again, the Tennessee primary election day is actually Thursday. August 6th. That's right. August 6. Write it down. Okay, so the election commission officials say the ballot issue was limited to one machine, but one voter smartly said they want more answers before heading to the polls on Thursday. August 6 to quote to hear that it was only one machine that had problems and we've heard from people all over about problems. Doesn't cut the mustard, said Shelby County voter, Kermit Moore. After early voting ended, Election Commission staff discovered one machine, they say, at Christian Life Church, did not include four judicial races on the ballot. Officials said that that affected about 307 voters who used that machine. Quote, we really don't know how it happened, said the administrator of elections, Linda Phillips. We know clearly that sufficient testing didn't happen, she said. Phillips said the machine has been removed and the Election Commission has been retesting equipment ahead of Thursday's election. But one voter said that they had heard unverified reports of other issues during early voting, including claims that machines changed ballots to reflect votes for candidates that they did not select on the touchscreen. ABC 24 was unable to verify those claims, however. In a statement, Philip said, quote, we encourage voters to report any irregularities while at the polling place so the claim can be examined by our partisan poll workers who are present at every voting location.

What I'm hoping is the Election Commission will be transparent and truthful in whatever is going on, said the voter more. If it's human error, it's human error. If it's a problem with the machines, let's fix it, he said. The Election Commission said it has not found any other machines with issues. Phillips said that all early voting machines have been retested and crews are also checking every machine that will be used on Election Day. Quote, we did staff up when we saw the early voting numbers, Philip said. Apparently they were big early voting numbers, which is at least an encouraging sign, I would note. She continued, we started to staff up and we deployed a little bit more equipment. We have more equipment in reserve. We're ready for about anything, and I hope voters do come and turn out. Me too. ABC goes on to note Election Day is Thursday, August 6th. They got it right this time, near the end of their story. Election officials also urge voters to review their ballots carefully before casting them. Yes, voters during early voting, and I'm not sure, but I think on Election Day as well in Shelby County. Are given touchscreen ballot marking devices to vote on in which they make their selections on screen. They print out the results, which may or may not reflect how they actually tried to cast their ballot on the screen. Most voters do not notice when a selection is missing or has been changed. on their computer printed ballot before scanning it with an optical scanner at the polling place. These systems are similar to the ones you've heard us complain a lot about on this show that are used in Georgia. We discussed those in detail on yesterday's broadcast, where it was discovered by longtime election integrity champion, Marilyn Marks, that because the company who makes the machines in Georgia dominion voting, which has now been purchased by a right-wing group, by the way, called Liberty Vote. They use an age-old, long ago cracked algorithm from the 1970s to randomize ballots when they are scanned so that the scan order cannot be discerned later on, thus exposing the way the voters voted when you compare the order in which they voted to the order in which the voters signed in. to vote on on those machines in Georgia where the secretary of state has refused to apply a security patch update those who vote at the polling place as we discussed yesterday with Maryland who uncovered this fact those people who voted the at the polling place on those machines in Georgia can have their supposedly secret ballot exposed Simply with the use of chat GPT and some publicly available voting records. If you missed our jaw-dropping program on that exclusive and breaking news yesterday, please do check it out later for free at bradblog.com.

But the systems in Shelby County, Tennessee, at least, those are made by ESNS, not Dominion, so hopefully they don't have that particular problem at least. But the idea that only one machine was leaving off certain judicial races... It's a bit hard to swallow knowing how these systems work, having written and reported on them for more than 20 years now. If you know anything about these machines, they all have they have their ballots programmed into them. Essentially from the same ballot programming source code. So why some would be dropping some races is very curious. Anyway, we'll keep our eyes on that as the week progresses and as Tennessee votes on what date does he join? Thursday. August 6th, not July. But anyway, speaking of Washington State, which did hold Election Day on Tuesday this week, they have likely been voting for weeks in Washington State because they use almost exclusively mail balloting in the state, which is probably lucky because the state continues to battle wildfires today, including three. Huge ones that are in or around the city or county of Spokane. The state's Spokane is the second largest city in the state and nearly 70,000 residents have now been forced to evacuate this week. There's been more than 700 structures, including many homes that have been destroyed in the climate change-fueled blazes. We will discuss that more in our Green News report later this hour with Desi Doyen. Hi, Desi. Hi. But there were reports that... One of the areas, at least one of the area's drop boxes was in one of the evacuation zones. Is that how you had heard it? Yes. Yes. One of the drop boxes is in an evacuation zone. But that's okay because Washington State is prepared for this. Spokane officials have given instructions on the city website about where else you can vote. They have lots of drop boxes. Lots of places you can bring those ballots. Isn't that nice? Lucky thing. And frankly, lucky that they vote by mail in Washington State. If they had polling place voting only, like Trump and the Republicans are now trying to force on everyone in America, while those polling places might have been burned down or in evacuation areas, potentially disenfranchising. Lord knows how many people who, thankfully, have already been able to safely cast their votes with a vote by mail ballot.

But separately, one of those three big fires that are threatening the Spokane region, as per officials late today, they appear to have been sparked by an arsonist. According to the New York Times today, authorities in Spokane County, Washington arrested a man on Monday who they suspected of starting one of the three fires that forced more than 65,000 people to evacuate over the weekend. The 37-year-old man Aaron Farinacci was charged with one count of first-degree arson, according to the sheriff of Spokane County. Other charges may be added later, officials said. Law enforcement had initially spoken with the man on Saturday afternoon after police received a call from a resident of the area where the old Trails Fire began. That's one of the three. Fire investigators reported that the old trails fire appear to be intentionally set by using a match or a butane lighter to ignite grass, according to the sheriff. The suspect was carrying waterproof matches and a butane lighter. When he was arrested, the sheriff said, at a Monday evening news conference, the resident who reported the man told police that he had seen a man bending down in some grass near the ignition site of the blaze before it started. Quote, at that point, the mail stood up and looked very nervous, according to our citizen witness, the sheriff said. The witness returned home, he added, and then soon after saw smoke coming from that area. The suspect is now being held on bail set at $1 million. According to court records from Maricopa County, Arizona, that same man pleaded guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault back in 2012 after initially being charged with first-degree murder in the death of his father. Spokane County prosecuting attorney said the investigation was still active and they are still seeking help from other potential witnesses in the region. Quote, this arrest was the result of the diligent work of vigilant citizens who were noticing things that were different who actually reported it, the prosecutor said. And back here in California, it wasn't an arsonist, apparently, who sparked the massive, devastating wildfire that wiped out much of Altadena a year ago this past January, a fire known as the Eaton fire back during the wildfires here in Los Angeles, among tremendously high winds and climate change fueled very. dry weather at the time. It wasn't an arsonist. Apparently, it was the utility company.

That done it. That according to reporting out today, sparks from an idle transmission tower owned by Southern California Edison caused the 2025 eaten fire in the L.A. area that killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and businesses. That according to L.A. County fire officials in a report released on Tuesday. It took firefighters nearly a month to extinguish that blaze, which scorched 22 square miles. Quote, after 18 months of thorough review of all evidence alongside retained electrical and metallurgical experts, the investigation concluded that the cause of the wildfire conflagration was due to the electrical arcing events. That took place on the out-of-service Southern California Edison Tower, the agency said in a statement. Kathleen Mike Dunleavy, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison, said the utility has received the report, and they are reviewing it. Sure they are. I bet they are. Quote, we have taken our potential role in the start of this fire seriously from the beginning, Mike Dunleavy insisted. Though not seriously enough, at least not seriously enough to bury their transmission lines. They could have done that years and years ago, frankly. Absolutely. And remember, these privately owned utility companies, they gave those profits that they earned every year to shareholders, and they did not do the maintenance they were required to do. That money got shoveled away, and that is why we are here in this situation now. Mike Dunleavy said Southern California Edison previously acknowledged, quote, it was likely our equipment was associated with the ignition of the Eaton fire. Though the company has tried to share the blame, of course. SoCal Edison has claimed in lawsuits earlier this year that LA County agencies failed to send timely evacuation warnings to residents in East and West Altadena. It's not their fault they burned the place down. L.A. County was late and telling people to leave it. 18 of the 19 people who died in the fire lived in West Altadena. The year-long, a more than year-long probe, year-and-a-half-long probe found electrical arcing on the utilities out-of-service tower sparked the dry brush below and that the utility was responsible for maintaining and operating its electrical lines and equipment, quote, in a matter that would minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by them. And I recall seeing pictures, I think, of that tower and the fire below it, like very early right away. And it was the first week of the, that fire blew up. Yes, you did. That was back when SoCal Edison was sort of doing their best to duck.

Blame for any of this, as I recall at the time. The blaze was sparked during extreme weather conditions that included high temperatures, very low humidity, and very powerful winds. Two electrical arcing events occurred in quick succession. The report found causing an unknown burning material. To fall from the tower to the ground below, according to the report, within 12 seconds, dry grass and brush was ignited, and the fire swiftly developed, quote, into a conflagration engulfing the areas of the San Gabriel Mountains, Altadena, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and La Cagnata Flint Ridge, the report said. The report cites in an interview. With a Pasadena resident who called 911 on January 7 after spotting flames across the canyon from his home's rear window, the caller described it as a 10-foot-by-10-foot fire at the base of a high-voltage electrical tower, the report said. It burned, the Eaton fire burned at the same time as the Palisades fire. Out near the coast, that is the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history. That one killed 12 people, destroyed more than 6,800 homes and buildings in Pacific Palisades. That one, according to law enforcement officials, was sparked by a human. The man accused of sparking the Palisades fire will be tried again this fall after his first federal arson case ended in a mis-trial in June. I believe he insists he was not trying to start a fire. Prosecutors charged the man used a barbecue lighter on January 1, 2025 to spark a blaze that burned undetected deep in root systems apparently before flaring back up. When the high winds returned. Right on January 7. But arson or not, utility company or not, all of these blazes are made far worse. As scientists have been pointing out, thanks to the effects of climate change, which the folks who run this country right now continue to make worse and worse and worse by the day. More on that, of course, in our Green News report later this hour, which we laid down before. We learned the news of the report finding that Southern California Edison was, in fact, responsible for sparking the catastrophic blaze in Altadena and the surrounding areas last year. But in related news, which also came in too late for today's Green News report, hey, Des, remember I used to worry whether you'd be able to find enough news to fill six minutes twice a week on the Green News report? And remember how I laughed and laughed. You were apparently right.

this afternoon, a divided federal appeals court on Tuesday found the Trump administration improperly terminated billions of dollars in funds to boost clean energy projects, handing a win to a coalition of nonprofits picked to run the Biden-era effort. So this is a big and important, at least for now, story, at least until Trump's... corrupted U.S. Supreme Court gets their say in it, I worry. Climate United Fund and other nonprofits will not have access to their funds immediately after this ruling, as the decision will be put on hold for at least several days, giving the Trump EPA, which, by the way, stands for Environmental Pollution Agency. At least under Trump, it does. Or the Environmental Plunder Agency. Oh, yeah. Or really the Environmental Petroleum Agency these days. Take your pick. Anyway, given that the Trump EPA will be given time to ask the Supreme Court to step in, which of course you know they will. The ruling by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a loss for the administration in one of its earliest efforts to dismantle President Joe Biden's campaign to reduce. Climate warming greenhouse gases while the Trump administration has been working to increase them. The greenhouse gas reduction fund, as it's called, it's commonly referred to as the Green Bank, that is a $20 billion, congressionally authorized program. You know, unlike the $1.8 billion slush fund that Donald Trump and his... DOJ created for him to plunder the taxpayers without the permission of Congress or the courts or anyone else. I'll get to that in a bit. But a $20 billion congressionally authorized program that provided money to nonprofits that would then make loans and invest in small energy projects. clean energy projects, energy-efficient buildings, and transportation. As per Biden and the Democrats, landmark climate legislation in the Inflation Reduction Act. Trump's corrupt EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, accused Climate United Fund and the other nonprofits picked to run that Green Bank of mismanagement and fraud. He froze billions that had been placed in a Citibank account for the program and then terminated their grants, apparently unlawfully, according to the D.C. Court of Appeals today. The groups disputed any wrongdoing. They sued arguing that the Trump administration broke the law and violated the Constitution by not spending money that was authorized by Congress. Climate United Fund said in a statement, quote, despite efforts to harm the awardees with false allegations and misinformation, there remains no legal basis for terminating our grant award and clawing back funds that were already dispersed in our bank accounts.

Yes, the administration went after and froze money that had already been spent by the government in this case, not only appropriated by Congress, approved by the president, but already actually given out before the Trump administration tried to steal that money from them. In September, a three-judge panel of the same appeals court overturned a lower court and said that the administration had broad powers to cancel grants without having to face charges of illegality in federal court. But the full appeals court agreed to revisit that decision, which is very rare. It's reserved for the most important cases like this one, and today that full court, albeit on a divided basis, the full court sided with the environmental groups and by extension, the Biden administration, and the Democratic majority in Congress. Though the Green Bank was created by the Inflation Reduction Act, Trump's... Tax cut bill for wealthy people and corporations last year repealed part of the law that established the bank and rescinded money that hadn't already been obligated to its recipients. Six of ten judges agreed with the lower court judge that the EPA likely violated the law when it terminated the grants and tried to claw back funds based on little more than a policy disagreement. Lee Zeldin early last year told Fox News he suspected the Green Bank, quote, was a clear-cut case of waste and abuse that, in my opinion, is criminal, he said, criminal. No evidence of criminal wrongdoing, mind you. And it was money that was allocated by Congress based on a bill that they passed that was signed by the president, but it was all criminal according to the actually criminal Trump administration. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkin last year said that when the federal government was asked for evidence of fraud in this case, the agency did not provide any. And then they shifted their position to more general concerns about the level of EPA oversight of the programs. Chutkin ruled that the government cannot violate the law and terminate the contracts and that the groups should have access to their frozen money. That order was, however, put on hold during this long appeal. A lawyer for the nonprofits argued that the agency had already allocated the money by putting it in the Citibank account. for the program to use. So now...

I suspect the money will remain frozen at least until the corrupted high court. Supreme Court takes their time. And here in this case, at some point in their next term, whenever they get around to it, naturally had the ruling gone the other way here, I suspect they would have upheld it almost immediately on the shadow docket. But that's not how this corrupt high court rules. We will see. Maybe they'll surprise us. Maybe I'll be wrong. Do you think? Do you think I will be Des? I don't think so either. Speaking of my never, ever, ever being wrong, let's take a quick break here and we'll talk about just as we told you over and over again last week, the Republicans in the Senate. rolled over, as expected, for Donald Trump and what could be, speaking of waste, fraud and abuse, the greatest heist of taxpayer dollars ever by a sitting president in U.S. history. That's straight ahead on today's broadcast. I'm Bradfuteman.

The Bradcast and the Green News Report are 100% independent, 100% listener supported. But we can't do it alone. We need you. Please help us bring real facts to listeners at independent stations around the nation. Please drop by bradblog.com slash donate. That's bradblog.com slash donate. And thanks. Absolutely plans to take the money and run. Welcome back to the broadcast. Brad Friedman from Bradblog.com. We would expect no less of him. As we discussed several times last week on this program, as I had warned you several times, the supposed complaints by outgoing Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, were a little more than a ruse to pretend that they were actually troubled by the nomination of Donald Trump's personal criminal defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, who still serves in that role, by the way. But the nomination of him to become the nation's U.S. Attorney General. And it was always a ruse because, as we told you, as Todd Blanche, the Senate confirmed deputy attorney general, he can continue on to be Trump's acting attorney general for as long as Trump wants him to through the end of his term, whether or not Todd Blanche is ever confirmed officially for the permanent attorney general job. To really all of this, from the beginning, it was already kabuki theater from the jump, even though people were pretending, oh my, look, Republicans may vote against Todd Blanche. Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, despite all of that, pretended that they were concerned about the so-called settlement agreement that Todd Blanche signed off on for the Department of Justice to the lawsuit. in which Donald Trump sued the Donald Trump controlled IRS and the Donald Trump controlled DOJ. Gosh, I wonder who was going to win that case had it ever actually gone to trial. That regarding a leak by an IRS subcontractor. of several of Trump's tax returns along with the tax returns of thousands of other Americans in the very same leak that happened while Donald Trump was president during his first term. The supposed settlement, which a federal judge has since found to be a fraud upon the court.

Because the two supposed sides in that lawsuit were not actually opposed to each other because they were both Donald Trump. The settlement included a $1.8 billion slush fund never approved by the court. It was actually the case was withdrawn and the DOJs just announced it. This $1.8 billion so-called anti- government anti-weaponization fund for Trump to be able to use to pay out really anybody that he wanted, like, I don't know, 1,500 January 6ers who were charged and convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol to help Trump try and steal the 2020 election. Trump pretends that he wants to give them a whole bunch of money. But wildly underreported here, that $1.8 billion could actually be given to Donald Trump himself. or his family members or his companies. There was also an addendum to that original agreement. It was signed only by Todd Blanche that would give Trump his entire family and all of his hundreds of businesses immunity from tax penalties or audits, quote, forever. Forever in all caps, twice in this one paragraph addendum. That alone, that alone by itself is a gift of an estimated $100 million from the taxpayers to the Trump's since it is believed that that is how much Trump and his family and his companies actually already owe in unpaid taxes before he took office again last year. As we told you in detail on last Thursday's broadcast, last week, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis were never serious about their professed concerns about either that $1.8 billion slush fund or the unprecedented tax immunity deal. And on Monday, this week, as expected, they caved. Yes, Todd Blanche. Finally put in writing that the $1.8 billion slush fund was being rescinded. But really, it was not that. He said the order for that slush fund was being rescinded, and it means absolutely nothing on its own. As former IRS official Alison Gill, who writes and broadcasts as Milton Mueller, she wrote, As she correctly observed right away when this news came out on social media, she said Todd Blanche rescinded the order establishing the slush fund, but not the underlying settlement. The settlement says any changes must be agreed to by all parties, not just Todd Blanche. This rescission, she notes, isn't worth the paper it is printed on. And she's right. That agreement is signed. by Trump lawyers, the original agreement, and by a lawyer and a Trump lawyer who now serves as the Trump appointed associate attorney general, he's the guy who signed it for the DOJ and the Trump appointed CEO of the IRS. He's the guy who signed it for the IRS. All of those people would have to sign off on any changes to that bogus settlement.

For to actually be officially changed, Todd Blanche declaring it will be rescinded either verbally or in a written order, it doesn't, it likely means nothing to Donald Trump because he can always sue to get what he will regard as his $1.8 billion. As TPM's David Kurtz observed yesterday, Trump is Lucy, GOP senators are the football, D.C. political reporters are Charlie Brown. Yes. After weeks of resistance, he notes, Todd Blanche finally put in writing. In documents, he posted to social media that the so-called anti-weaponization slush fund is dead and that the IRS immunity for Trump is retroactive only. It was a limited concession, argues Kurtz, very generously, but it was enough for the two Senate holdouts. But if, in fact, the unprecedented IRS immunity deal is only retroactive, That it doesn't give Trump and his family and his companies permanent lifelong immunity for future tax fraud forever. As the addendum actually says, even if it was just held retroactively, it would still be worth $100 million to Donald Trump, $100 million in tax revenue that did not go to the federal government and that will have to be covered by your tax dollars instead of his tax dollars. And Senators Tillen, Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, and presumably any Republican or Democrat who would vote for Todd Blanche's confirmation are all apparently totally cool with that. The news coverage on Monday held this as a, quote, formal act by Todd Blanche of rescinding the Anti-Weaponization Fund. by an administration who has literally done nothing but weaponize the DOJ and the rest of the federal government. But the news came on Monday after Trump over the weekend continued to escalate his insistence that the so-called anti-weaponization slush fund would still be moving forward. So we're supposed to take the word of Trump's personal lawyer and underling, but not the president himself, who vowed otherwise. and who would have to sign off as a party to the original agreement on any changes to that particular agreement. Are you seeing the problem here? Of course, if you look closely at what Todd Blanche said, he wrote on Sunday night after days of negotiation, quote, beyond any doubt, there is no fund.

Not that there won't be any fund, just that there is no fund right now, for now. The way, you know, when you ask one of Trump's appointees who won the 2020 election, they will say Joe Biden was the president. Not actually answering the question of who won the election. Weasel words. Yep. As Kurtz writes, just look at what Todd Blanche did and did not do because it reinforces what a parody of a negotiation with the two senators this has all been. John Cornyn. rightly insisted that by the terms of the settlement agreement in Trump's lawsuit against the IRS, only the parties to it, including Trump, can amend it, but only Todd Blanche signed this order on the anti-weaponization fund. No amendment to the settlement agreement if one exists has actually been released anywhere by anybody. And I checked again today. The original agreement and the announcement about it is still up, as is on the DOJ website. No amendments. No changes. Todd Blanche's new order on Sunday purports to be the final word on the anti-webitization fund, but it's not at all clear that it is, if any legal authority, what, if any legal authority it actually carries. Remember that Todd Blanche has refused in one of the what he calls frivolous lawsuits challenging the slush fund. He has refused to declare it to be dead under penalty of perjury. Nothing filed in court, however, has suggested a change in that position. So again, it's all theater here. Todd Blanche's order also makes no mention of the IRS immunity deal for Trump. Makes no mention of that at all. Apparently, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis are just fine with that. Instead, a separate statement from his office. unsigned and under no one's name stipulates that the IRS deal is only retroactive, that it won't bar future audits or tax penalties, etc. But that statement is actually signed by nobody. I mean, it's just so absurd. It's, it's. This statement appears to be a sop to John Cornyn who wanted Todd Blanche to put his Senate testimony to the effect in writing. The statement reaffirms Todd Blanche's testimony, but of course that means absolutely nothing legally. Writes Kurtz, how this bald statement is legally binding on anyone is a mystery. For his part, Thom Tillis gave away the game on Saturday before Todd Blanche's written assurances, lamenting that Trump's doubling down on the slush fund was hobbling Todd Blanche's confirmation, quote, it's unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal. So...

Yeah, he considered Thom Tillis considers this guy to be qualified. Really? He is anything but. And in fact, the U.S. District Court judge who recently found that this entire lawsuit was a scam, a fraud upon the court, has sent her ruling the findings from that case to the New York State Bar Association to review Todd Blanche's behavior in this very lawsuit. In related news on Monday, Trump and his lawyer appealed that particular finding by that judge, U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams, last month when she ruled that Trump engaged in a collusive lawsuit against the IRS by being on both sides of the same case. They're also asking for Judge Williams for now to pause the sanctions. which amounted to reprimands and state bar references for Todd Blanche and Trump's other personal lawyers for bringing this fraud upon the court in the first place. They want to pause while that appeal plays out rather than immediately ruling on the request. Judge Williams has now asked the outside lawyers that she previously appointed as friends of the court because there was no adverse parties in the case. By the president against his own administration, she's asking those outside lawyers to brief her on the request. In what would normally be a dry procedural order, Williams got in one more jab at the lack of adverseness between the Trump plaintiffs and the Trump administration defendants, noting that the outside lawyers were needed, quote, in light of the fact that defendants do not intend to appear or... even file a response to the motion by the plaintiffs. So to be clear, Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who have been run out of the U.S. Senate by Donald Trump at the end of this term, pretended to object to Todd Blanche's nomination to be permanent Attorney General. Even though he was allowed to hold that job in an acting capacity anyway for the next two and a half years, they pretended that they were upset by the $1.8 billion slush fund, which Todd Blanche has now pretended to rescind, even though Trump can sue at any time to make sure that that slush fund, in fact, exists from which he can then steal any amount he wants because the original agreement says as much. And the senators. pretended to be upset because the unprecedented IRS immunity to Trump might apply to future taxes as well. They are totally cool, however, with Trump receiving a $100 million gift from the taxpayers for unpaid taxes up until now. Because, of course, they are so conservative, right? And they're worried about waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer money, right?

John Cornyn and Todd Blanche basically explained all of this themselves during an exchange at Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing in the Judiciary Committee last month. As CNN's Aaron Blake notes, when he started pressing Todd Blanche, John Cornyn asked whether the settlement agreement had been modified by the parties, including Trump. It hadn't been, Todd Blanche said. Under John Cornyn's questioning, Todd Blanche admitted that even if he verbally promised to fully kill off the slush fund, the settlement, remained a, quote, enforceable document and Trump could file a lawsuit seeking to enforce its terms. Quote, there's no guarantee that he or one of the other plaintiffs might not raise that issue by way of a lawsuit and a breach of contract lawsuit in the future, said John Cornyn. before subsequently rolling over on Monday for Trump, given that the agreement has not been changed. As the actually conservative National Reviews, Andrew McCarthy explained, the settlement's terms state that it could be, quote, modified only, quote, modified only with the written agreement of the parties, which would include Trump. Absent such a modification agreement, however, McCarthy points out, the anti-weaponization fund is still viable and could be revived at any time. I'd go farther and say it will be revived. Even some supporters of the anti-weaponization fund suggested Todd Blanche's document could be rendered moot. Quote, can be undone after Tuesday, Republican lawyer Mike Howell said on social media. He applied to serve on the anti-weaponization fund's board. Quote, the anti-webitization fund is great, he said. As to the tax immunity addendum, well, CNN's Blake writes, even if the narrower scope that it is only retroactive, even if that narrower scope is operable, the updated terms would still allow Trump a major financial benefit. The New York Times has written that giving Trump personal immunity from his past taxes could spare him a $100 million tax penalty. And if you wonder exactly who all of this applies to, as Thom Tillis and John Cornyn pretended to be concerned about previously, that agreement. which again hasn't been amended and is signed only by Todd Blanche explains the federal government will be quote forever barred and precluded from prosecuting or pursuing any and all claims that have been or could have been asserted by defendants the DOJ and the IRS against any of the plaintiffs or related

or affiliated individuals including without limitation family or others filing jointly or parties including trusts parent sister or related companies affiliates and subsidiaries It's such a big group. I might be included in one of those things they listed off. As the New York Times notes, quote, while the retroactive immunity is limited to the parties to Trump's lawsuit against the IRS, himself, his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric and the Trump Organization, the lawsuit actually defines the Trump Organization LLC. and 418 other entities that are not specifically identified. You getting this? On Tuesday, then, with the votes of Tillison John Cornyn. Either of whom could have blocked Todd Blanche's nomination from getting out of committee. His nomination advanced on Tuesday to the full Senate on a strictly partisan vote 12 to 10 out of the judiciary. When the nomination gets to a floor vote, I expect Susan Collins of Maine, who is running for re-election this year, unlike John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, the cowardly ones. And she's running in a tough race against Democrat Troy Jackson. I suspect she will be allowed to vote against the nomination of Todd Blanche, you know, for show without hurting his chances. Now that Republicans have enough votes to spare so Susan Collins can tell main voters, oh, look, she stood up against the president. With Thom Tillis and John Cornyn playing their part in voting for Todd Blanche, now that their concerns have been assuaged about the $1.8 billion that has been given to Donald Trump in a slush fund and that he can continue to give to fellow criminals and to himself and an unprecedented tax immunity deal that will spare Trump and his family and all of his companies at least $100 million in taxpayer money. It is almost certainly the greatest taxpayer heist by sitting president in U.S. history and is all happening right before our eyes. And Republicans will be able to pretend they demanded accountability. And most Americans will likely see all of this as just another political brouhaha in Congress. Boy, can't they stop fighting about things? Hopefully, broadcast listeners at least know better. Here's Democratic Senator Sheldon White House of Rhode Island on the Senate Judiciary Committee just before the partisan vote out of the committee approving the nomination of Todd Blanche, ratifying the greatest heist in history by an American president of the American people. The last question that I'm left with here is what's left of this committee? What's left of this committee when we don't demand straight answers from witnesses?

How many times has this Department of Justice been asked, what became of the $50,000 that the FBI reported that it handed to Mr. Tom Homan in a bribery sting? That's administrative stuff. That gets reported. There's an account. You've got to check the money out. If you get the money back, you've got to check the money back. There's an administrative trail. We can't get any information about that. Our Republican colleagues see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. Kash Patel virtually certainly lied to this committee sitting in front of us. Is there any interest in that? At a time when Republicans in Congress seem agitated about Biden officials? Lying to Congress? We got lies right here, folks. I don't know where this committee goes after it stops being taken seriously because all you have to be is on the right partisan side to get this committee to roll over and play dead. November cannot come soon enough. I've blown through my Green News Report break, so let's get straight to it. Our latest Green News report. The challenge is this summer, the whole Western United States is on fire. Damage mounts from disastrous fires in Spokane, Washington. Extreme drought hampering nuclear power in Europe, plus FBI and the EPA issuing a warning to water and wastewater facilities nationwide about the increasing risk posed by hackers. U.S. intelligence agencies issue warning over cyber threats to water systems. All of those threats and more straight ahead from bradblog.com. I'm Bradfriedman. And I'm Desi Doyen. Stand by for six minutes of independent green news. Politics. analysis and snarky comment. We heard that Minnesota there was a cyber attack and they blame it on Iran. I don't think so. I think I blame it on Minnesota because they're grossly incompetent. Oh no, they're talking about the water system in Minnesota, not your failed reflecting pool renovation. Sir, this is your Green News Report. I'm going to soak up the sun. Okay, Desi doing the summer of heat and fires and yes floods continue. Now we have cyber attacks on our water systems to add to it. What could possibly go wrong? What do you got for us today? Well, first, as we go to air in Spokane, Washington, some 65,000 people have been forced to evacuate from three out of control, heat and wind-driven wildfires encroaching on the city that have destroyed more than 700 homes and businesses. No deaths or injuries have been confirmed. Officials say it is currently the biggest fire emergency in the nation. In an interview with NPR, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown cited climate.

change as a factor. We have known for years of the dangers of the changing climate and have been working to reduce the risk. But this was an unprecedented situation, and it's not over yet. Currently, about 90 major wildfires are burning across the West. 90? Yes, straining federal, state and local emergency resources and generating hazardous air quality across a broad swath of the country. So far this year, fires across the Pacific Northwest have burned nearly 2 million acres and more than 5 million acres across the country. Scientists say human-caused climate change. driven by our burning of fossil fuels is definitely playing a role. Record rains spur plant growth, record heat, and drought turn that plant growth to dry tinder. The Spokane fires come in the wake of new reporting confirming that the Trump administration has denied three quarters of all disaster requests from Democratic-run states. Like Washington and Oregon, where we are seeing the worst of these fires. Yes. In other news, half of notorious... rainy England is now officially in its third exceptionally serious drought in five years. The latest drought striking just months after intense winter floods. Britain's National Farmers Union warns that the extreme drought and heat may trigger shortages of some foods. The Guardian reports that the UK's right-wing newspapers have nonetheless doubled down on attacking efforts to mitigate climate change. It's amazing. how these right-wingers are denying climate change and then blaming everyone else when climate change causes chaos. Yep. In Europe, also still fighting several massive fires, prolonged drought has forced Hungary and Romania to shut down their nuclear power plants, curtailing electricity supplies during record heat waves because river levels are too low to cool the reactors. The Financial Times reports that heat, drought, and fires across Europe have already cost $4 billion this year so far, underscoring, quote, growing risk of climate change to the global economy. Wow. Does solar or wind power require water to keep it cool? No, it does not. Huh. Okay. In other news, the federal cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency, known as SISA, has issued a nationwide warning over potential cyber threats to water systems after at least seven states were hit last week by cyber attacks aimed at disrupting their water systems. Seven states? Yes, including dozens of water plants in Minnesota and Michigan. No incidence of contamination have been reported as Donald Trump's war on...

Iran drags on U.S. intelligence and state officials say they are investigating whether Iran is responsible but have made no formal determination. Trump downplayed the cyber attacks by blaming Minnesota's Democratic officials. He blamed Minnesota's Democratic officials, but what about the other six states? Is Tim Walz also to blame for cyber attacks there as well? And finally, some better news. Walmart has leapfrogged over competitors in electric vehicle charging with a rapid buildout of new EV charging stations at its stores over just the last few months, deploying more charging ports than every other charging network except Tesla. Never thought I'd say it, but yay Walmart. For much more on all of these stories and the ones we couldn't get to today, check out our website at greennews. Bradblog.com. Find, follow and share us planetwide on the social media, especially blue sky, at Green News Report. I'm Brad Friedman. And I'm Desi Doyen. And this has been your Green News Report. Charge me up, baby. Charge me up, baby. Charge me up once and again. All right. Charge me up before we have to do another Bradcast tomorrow with results out of Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, and Washington State. My thanks to our producer, Desi Doyle and all of you for spending a portion of your day or night with us. If you missed any portion of today's show, you can download, stream them all, share them as you like at bradblog.com. That made possible by those of you who hit one of our donate buttons when you stop by or go straight to bradblog.com. slash donate drop me email if you like love to hear from you i am bradcast at bradblog.com and on the social medias i am the brad blog see you there until we see you here next time i'm brad freedman good luck world charge me up baby charge me up baby charge me You're listening to the Bradcast. We are 100% listener supported thanks to listeners like you, who stopped by bradblog.com slash donate.