After Concession on J6 Fund, Blanche Headed Toward Confirmation

But not before losers John Cornyn and Thom Tillis get their ounce of flesh.

Sometimes (most of the time?) in politics, the bad guys win.

Such is the case with outgoing Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas). Blinded by bitterness, revenge, and hypocrisy, the pair of sore losers—Tillis last year abandoned his re-election bid amid fear he would lose a Republican primary over his criticism of President Trump, a fate inflicted on Cornyn, who lost his primary election in May after Trump endorsed his opponent—recently joined forces to block the confirmation of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley twice postponed confirmation votes—Tillis and Cornyn sit on the powerful committee—in the face of threats by both senators to vote “no” on Blanche’s nomination.

The reason for the hold-up related to the so-called “anti-weaponization fund” established by the president to compensate American citizens, particularly the participants of the January 6 protest, targeted by the Biden Department of Justice over their political beliefs. Blanche announced the creation of the $1.766 billion fund in May as part of a settlement in response to a lawsuit filed by the president and the Trump Organization for the illegal leaking of his tax documents right before the 2020 presidential election. “The machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this Department’s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,” Blanche said in a press release. “As part of this settlement, we are setting up a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”

Democrats and some Republicans, including Tillis, immediately denounced the fund, which the lame duck describes as a “payout for punks.”

Cornyn, who is somehow impossibly dumber than Tillis, went so far as to cancel a face-to-face meeting with Blanche. (The four-term senator hasn’t received this level of attention from the Washington press corps since he last time he snuggled up to Volodymyr Zelensky.)

Trump responded last week to Cornyn’s pouting:

For Tillis’s part, as I wrote here, he had pledged to block any nominee who “defended” the events of January 6; he successfully scuttled the confirmation of acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin last year.

So rather than do something constructive for the country, and for their constituents, in the waning months of their forgettable Senate careers, Tillis and Cornyn instead chose to make Blanche their whipping boy. The milquetoast mates—who never met a Ukraine aid package they didn’t support—found their inner mafiosos and made an “or else” offer the administration could not refuse.

On Monday, Blanche confirmed in writing the fund had been shut down for good:

Tillis and Cornyn quickly gloated. (The agreement also limits the IRS’ ability to audit other Trump World figures aside from those named in the lawsuit.)

A committee vote to confirm Blanche is set for Tuesday morning.

But Garland and Monaco Were A-Ok

Their opposition to Blanche not only represented a public relations stunt but also a stunning example of D.C.-level political hypocrisy.

First, as I noted on X, both men voted to confirm Merrick Garland as attorney general. Cornyn offered a full-throated endorsement of Garland on the Senate floor, snookered by Garland’s promises to end the politicization of the DOJ. (His remarks came at the same time Biden’s DOJ began rounding up Cornyn’s constituents for even minor involvement in the Capitol protest.)

Both men also voted to confirm Trump-Russia collusion mastermind Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general in April 2021; shortly after her confirmation, I described the 98-2 Senate vote as handing matches to an arsonist. Monaco proceeded to not only manage day-to-day management of the sprawling J6 prosecution but both investigations into President Trump including the plans to conduct an armed raid of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022.

Second, Tillis admitted in a recent X post that many J6ers had been mistreated by the Biden DOJ:

So if, as Tillis acknowledged, the Biden DOJ pursued “vindictive prosecutions,” what is the remedy for the Americans targeted and nearly destroyed in the process? What sort of restitution is due to J6ers investigated, charged, convicted, and imprisoned on the bogus obstruction of an official proceeding statute—overturned by the Supreme Court in June 2024? Or the J6ers sentenced to excessive jail time, from months in federal prison for misdemeanors to 22 years on bogus “seditious conspiracy” convictions? (A charge I strongly believe also would have been overturned by SCOTUS had the case made it to the highest court.)

If Tillis believes the Biden DOJ broke the law by pursuing “vindictive” and politically motivated prosecutions, he should help Blanche make those people whole, not sabotage their last chance for much-deserved relief.

But alas, the final act for Tillis and Cornyn—who once begged former FBI Director Christopher Wray to think up harsher charges for J6ers—represents yet another betrayal of their own constituents in exchange for taking once last whack at the president. In the end, however, Trump gets his attorney general pick and the country gets a hard-charging leader at the top of the DOJ to continue cleaning house, rounding up bad guys, and exposing rampant government fraud.