Former Attorney General Pam Bondi created a headache for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that he may not be able to run and hide from, according to one legal analyst. Last week, Bondi told House lawmakers that Blanche was the one in control of how the Jeffrey Epstein files were being released, according to newly released transcripts. Elie Honig, CNN's senior legal analyst, said on "Anderson Cooper 360" that the statement could prove problematic for Blanche as he seeks Senate confirmation for the full role of Attorney General. "The timing on that could not possibly have been worse for Todd Blanche to come out today," Honig said. Blanche has close ties to President Donald Trump, serving as his defense attorney in the New York hush money case. He's also shown a willingness to go up to bat for the president, as illustrated by his back-to-back contentious hearings on Capitol Hill this week. CNN reported on Wednesday that Trump is considering promoting Blanche as soon as this week. Honig noted that the Epstein files and other scandals could hinder Blanche's confirmation hearings. "When Todd comes up for his nomination, issue number one is going to be this weaponization fund, and issue two is going to be the Epstein files, and he can't run and hide from it now," Honig said.
RINO Thom Tillis has threatened to torpedo the nomination of Todd Blanche as U.S. The post RINO Sen. Thom Tillis Threatens to Sink Todd Blanche AG Nomination Unless He Condemns J6 Protesters (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
The Epstein files and Pam Bondi's testimony released on Thursday could come back to haunt Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he approaches his Senate confirmation hearing process, a legal expert said.During a live broadcast with CNN anchor Jake Tapper, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig noted that Bondi, who served as the former attorney general until she was fired by President Donald Trump in April, told lawmakers that Blanche was overseeing the release of the Epstein files and could come under further scrutiny because of her comments."It has to be a big problem for Todd Blanche, Jake, because there's nothing good in this whole mess of the Epstein files, legally or politically," Honig said. "And if you look at today's transcript, Pam Bondi truly does Todd Blanche no favors," Honig explained. "And I don't think she's trying to hurt him."He argued that Bondi was making an effort during the closed-door testimony with the House Oversight Committee to "praise Todd Blanche's skill and ethics and his handling of this whole process." "But the bottom line is it's disastrous," Honig added. "Todd Blanche was in charge. Pam Bondi makes that clear: the process that resulted in the release of victims' names, the process that resulted in the improper redaction of wrongdoers' names, and a process that was chaotic, overdue, and satisfied no one. And there's no way for Blanche to get out of that. It's actually surprising when you read the transcript how little Bondi knew about what was going on. This seems like it was a complete delegation, and you can bet this will come up in a big way when Todd Blanche goes in front of the Senate for his confirmation hearings."
The Trump administration has a "very serious chance" of losing a powerful weapon against judges, predicted legal journalist Adam Klasfeld. In a recent episode of Legal AF, Klasfeld spoke about the case against Hannah Dugan, the Milwaukee circuit court judge who distracted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while she sent the immigrant they were seeking out a side door."It's a shocking thing when a judge is arrested," Klasfeld reflected. "It showed the Trump administration's priorities to go after any judge that they believe is standing in the way of ICE enforcement.She was convicted by a jury of obstructing an official proceeding in December, but her legal team filed a motion for an acquittal of that charge. "She has a very serious chance of an acquittal here," Klasfeld said, explaining that recent cases have changed the legal precedent establishing ICE arrests with an administrative warrant as an official proceeding. If a federal judge agrees to acquit Dugan, it will take away "one of the most powerful arrows in the quiver of the Trump DOJ to target judges who want to preserve the integrity of their courthouse," Klasfeld said. "It can deprive the Trump DOJ of one of the few victories it has had in a high-profile case, particularly a politically charged high-profile case," Klasfeld added. "If an ICE arrest based on an administrative warrant is not a proceeding, then that sword of Damocles hanging over local county and state judges around the country, that is removed. That is removed from the Trump DOJ's quiver."
The House Oversight Committee released the transcript of the interview with former Attorney General Pam Bondi regarding her handling of the Epstein files, during which she repeated that she delegated oversight of the review and investigation of the files to Todd Blanche. The committee also released the transcript of a prison guard working the night that Epstein died.
President Donald Trump's acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, went to bat for one of the surviving parts of Trump's "settlement" with the IRS in his $10 billion lawsuit, and, in so doing, only cemented how improper it was, former federal prosecutor Harry Litman wrote for his "Talking Feds" Substack.Specifically, Litman said, he defended the provision that excuses Trump and his family from IRS audits going forward.Blanche, under pressure from lawmakers, "declared that 'nothing has changed' in that provision. But he talked out of both sides of his mouth," wrote Litman. To start with, "he characterized the provision as a freestanding 'Attorney General order,' independent of the settlement. In virtually the same breath, however, he defended it as part of 'that settlement.' He told the subcommittee, 'Anytime the IRS settles with an individual taxpayer or another company as part of the settlement, it’s standard, it’s typical…to get rid of past ongoing audits.'"In reality, Litman argued, Blanche's own words here show "that the whole settlement arrangement is collusive and, therefore, not a real case or controversy under the Constitution."The problem, he said, is that in an actual lawsuit, "one party can’t simply declare that the settlement is off. The disavowal would be legally worthless. The other party would be quick to enforce the benefit of its bargain." In the case of the IRS "settlement," Litman said, "there was no bargain — just a benefit — to Trump. They were on the same side of the 'v.,' which is why Blanche could purport to speak for them both."This comes after dozens of retired judges urged the court hearing the original IRS case to reopen it and examine whether it was a fraudulent use of the court system.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi's testimony with the House Oversight Committee was released on Thursday, revealing new details about the Department of Justice's rollout of the Epstein files. Bondi was interviewed by House lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week and responded to questions about criticisms of how the department handled the release of documents and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.Here are five things to know about Bondi's testimony.1. Bondi claimed she did not know about a document where Epstein’s 10 co-conspirators are listed.Lawmakers showed Bondi an email from the 2019 Epstein case in the Southern District of New York and asked her to comment.At one point, Bondi's attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Justice Department, told the lawmakers, "She's not going to answer that.""I don't recall ever reviewing this document, so I don't know who's in it, and that came from the FBI New York," Bondi said.2. Bondi blamed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the release of the Epstein files. Bondi said that Blanche was responsible for overseeing the Department of Justice's release of the documents and materials. “He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files," Bondi said.She also said he briefed her on the case as soon as she joined the DOJ as attorney general in January 2025.3. She claimed Blanche interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell because no one from the DOJ had interviewed her about Epstein."I believe Deputy Attorney General, now-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, has said on several occasions that Epstein, by that time, was dead and no one had taken — had made an effort to interview Ghislaine Maxwell to see if she had evidence of co-conspirators and other crimes, and that was why he interviewed her," Bondi said.She said she did not recall how the interview was prompted or whether Maxwell reached out first."I believe — I don't believe who initiated it. If she reached out to us, I believe — I don't want to speculate, but I believe Deputy Attorney General Blanche, at the time, reached out to them because there was someone, still living, in prison, who had potential information about other co-conspirators and crimes," Bondi said.4. Bondi did not confirm if Blanche had knowledge of Maxwell's prison relocation."He may, and I'm not sure if he'd addressed that publicly. Probably. But transferring a prisoner is the decision of the Bureau of Prisons," Bondi said.5. Bondi does not think Maxwell should be pardoned by President Donald Trump."I believe she should die in prison," Bondi said. "She was a monster, just like Jeffrey Epstein," Bondi added. "She recruited these young women to a life of prostitution and abuse. And I often think the women that do that are just as bad, if not worse, than the men, because she participated in it."
Blanche is happy to pervert justice in service of the president's personal agenda. No wonder Trump wants to keep him as attorney general.
Bondi was criticized by lawmakers and survivors over the release of the files, particularly over redactions some argue protect wrongdoers.