Todd Blanche Broke His Promise to the Senate
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Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Todd Blanche, Deputy Attorney General, is criticized for defending Trump's actions that contradict his own past statements and legal principles.
- ❖Blanche redefined 'illegal presence' as a 'crime' to justify deporting non-violent immigrants, despite Trump's earlier promises to target only 'dangerous criminals'.
- ❖He defended the administration's use of administrative warrants, bypassing judicial review, by claiming 'immigration law is administrative'.
- ❖Blanche's Senate promise to avoid politically motivated investigations was allegedly broken, with the host citing multiple targets of Trump's public ire who faced prosecution.
- ❖Blanche dismissed concerns about Trump's foreign business dealings, claiming money paid to Trump's family 'benefits America'.
- ❖He denied Trump's awareness of Don Lemon, despite Trump's documented public insults against Lemon preceding Lemon's arrest.
- ❖Blanche used inconsistent terminology, calling the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago a 'raid' when he was Trump's lawyer, but describing an FBI action to aid Trump's election claims as merely a 'search'.
Insights
1Redefining 'Criminal' for Immigration Enforcement
Todd Blanche, when questioned about the detention of immigrants without criminal records, asserted that being in the country illegally is itself a crime. This redefinition allowed the administration to justify rounding up individuals Trump previously promised to exclude from enforcement actions, who were not 'dangerous criminals'.
Blanche stated, 'The fact that they're here illegally is a crime... they are by their presence being here without status... that is a crime,' in response to George Stephanopoulos's query about 70% of detained immigrants lacking criminal records beyond their immigration status.
2Bypassing Judicial Review with Administrative Warrants
Blanche defended the administration's practice of issuing its own warrants for arrests, bypassing independent judicial review, by characterizing immigration law as 'administrative'. This approach was criticized by a judge who called it 'the fox guarding the hen house'.
After Stephanopoulos read a judge's blistering order against administrative warrants, Blanche responded, 'The immigration law, the body of immigration law is much different than our typical criminal process because of the administrative nature of what we do every day.'
3Broken Promise on Politically Motivated Investigations
Blanche allegedly broke his Senate confirmation promise to prevent politically motivated investigations. Despite his commitment, several individuals publicly targeted by Trump, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York AG Leticia James, faced prosecution or investigation.
At his confirmation hearing, Blanche committed, 'There will not even be a whiff of an investigation that appears to have a political motivation to it.' However, when confronted with a list of Trump's targets who were investigated, Blanche dismissed it as 'cherrypicking' and claimed the investigations were 'not political inbased'.
4Defending Presidential Orders for Prosecutions
Blanche defended the Justice Department's prosecution of Trump's political enemies, even after Trump publicly called for their indictment. He framed these actions as executing 'the president's priorities,' despite the appearance of direct political interference.
When Stephanopoulos highlighted Trump's public calls for indictments against Comey and James, Blanche stated, 'If you're a prosecutor in the Department of Justice, you are expected to effectuate this administration's priorities... you are going to execute on the president's priorities. And that's what we do.'
5Dismissing Concerns Over Trump's Foreign Business Dealings
Blanche dismissed concerns about a foreign government official's $500 million investment in a Trump company shortly before Trump's inauguration, framing it as a normal business deal that 'will all come back to the American people and jobs in this country,' despite the money going directly to Trump and his family.
Regarding the Wall Street Journal report on the UAE investment, Blanche stated, 'There's nothing unprecedented about... the Trump organization going out and and and trying to make investments that that basically all will come back to the American people and jobs in this country.'
6Misrepresenting Don Lemon's Arrest and Trump's Awareness
Blanche misrepresented the circumstances of former CNN anchor Don Lemon's arrest for allegedly 'storming' a church during a protest, and denied that Trump had any awareness of Lemon, despite Trump's extensive history of publicly insulting Lemon.
Blanche claimed Lemon was 'storming into a church' (video evidence showed him walking in calmly). When asked if the arrest was politically motivated due to Trump's sparring with Lemon, Blanche replied, 'I don't even know that the president's even ever thought of Don Lemon.' The host then showed multiple Trump posts calling Lemon 'dumbest man on television' and a 'loser'.
7Inconsistent Use of 'Raid' vs. 'Search' for FBI Actions
Blanche used inconsistent terminology to describe FBI actions, labeling the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago as a 'raid' when it targeted Trump, but referring to an FBI operation in Fulton County, Georgia, aimed at finding evidence for Trump's 2020 election claims, as merely a 'search warrant being executed'.
The host showed a legal brief filed by Blanche as Trump's lawyer, where the word 'raid' appeared 20 times in reference to the Mar-a-Lago search. However, when discussing the Fulton County operation, Blanche stated, 'First of all, it wasn't an FBI raid. Um, it it was a a search warrant being executed by by FBI agents.'
Lessons
- Critically evaluate official statements from government officials, especially when they appear to redefine terms or contradict past commitments.
- Be aware of how political appointments, particularly in law enforcement roles, can influence the interpretation and application of laws.
- Cross-reference public statements with historical records and evidence to identify potential inconsistencies or politically motivated narratives.
- Understand the distinction between judicial warrants and administrative warrants, and the implications for due process and civil liberties.
Quotes
"The fact that they're here illegally is a crime. And so when you say they don't have criminal records, they they are by their presence being here without status, having come into this country illegally or overstayed illegally, that is a crime."
"I commit to that. There will not even be a whiff of an investigation that appears to have a political motivation to it."
"You just showed a handful of investigations or in grand jury indictments that have been brought. We are we are investigating tens of thousands of individuals and cases every single day. They are not political inbased. The fact that you cherrypicked a handful that some people in the media have said, 'Oh, those must be political.' is is absurd and not fair."
"If you're a a prosecutor in the Department of Justice, you are expected to effectuate this administration's priorities. But if you're going to work in this department, you are going to execute on the president's priorities. And that's what we do."
"I don't even know that the president's even ever thought of Don Lemon. I don't know whether that's true or not."
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