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Tillis Admits to Weaponization of DOJ, Votes for Blanche Anyway [1]

['Dan K', 'Chitown Kev', 'Belinda Ridgewood', 'Bill In Portland Maine', 'Meteor Blades']

Date: 2026-08-04  

The Senate (in)Justice Committee just voted a few minutes ago to advance trump’s personal lawyer to be the chief attorney for the United States. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines in support of the nomination of President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney. . . . This vote comes despite Sen. Tillis admitting, just before the vote, that trump was weaponizing the Justice Department (though he claimed “both sides” were doing it): GOP senator goes off at Todd Blanche hearing as scorched-earth tirade demands firing:

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) launched a scorched-earth tirade at acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing Tuesday, demanding a federal prosecutor’s firing. . . . “If you want to talk about weaponization, take a look at the Biden administration. Take a look at the Obama administration. The bottom line is nobody is clean here. Maybe it’s a little bit more intense in this administration,” Tillis said. “I’m going to support Mr. Blanche’s nomination, but what I hope I see out of him is a bending of the curve of this absurdity,” Tillis said.

The “absurdity” cited by Tillis includes the totally ludicrous indictment of James Comey for posting a photo of “86 47”, an indictment ordered and engineered by Blanche himself (Blanche reveals charges against Comey in new indictment related to threats made against Trump) – and Tillis now expects Blanche to fix that????

But wait, there’s more. We already know that Blanche’s “rescinding” of the slush fund isn’t worth the used toilet paper it’s written on. But just in case Tillis and John Cornyn had missed that, Sen. Durbin reminded them of it before the vote this morning: Top Democrat Warns Of Potential Slush Fund Revival Within Minutes Of Blanche Confirmation:

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, dismissed Todd Blanche’s order to rescind President Donald Trump’s “anti-weaponization fund” as the president’s former personal lawyer was poised to be confirmed as attorney general. . . . Ahead of committee members voting, Durbin argued the “slush fund” and tax immunity are “unenforceable.” “The parties could still sue to enforce the agreement, and the cop beaters fund can easily be revived with a new order from the Department of Justice 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general,” he said.

I have not seen anything from Tillis and Cornyn pushing back against Durbin’s argument. For what it’s worth (not much), Politico is reporting that “some Republican senators” (behind a paywall; here is Tom Goddard’s summary) are still unsure if they will vote to confirm when the nomination comes to the floor. No doubt Susan Collins will express “concern.”

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/8/4/800079534/community/tillis-admits-to-weaponization-of-doj-votes-for-blanche-anyway/

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