Raw StoryFar Left
Trump quietly reignites fight to save shady deal torpedoing Blanche nomination
President Donald Trump quietly restarted a court battle Thursday to save an IRS audit deal that is also blocking acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation.Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization filed the notice of appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, according to court records, challenging a July 13 ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams.A controversial provision, signed by Blanche alone, would permanently bar the IRS from auditing Trump, his sons, and their businesses.Williams found that Trump had essentially sued himself — because he controls the agencies he sued — and that the audit provision of the resulting deal violated federal law."The Release Order also purports to bar the IRS from conducting any future tax audits of President Trump, his sons, and their entities," the order said."The explicit text of this statute prohibits President Trump and his lawyers — one of whom was former White House Counsel — from asking for or promoting termination of an audit directed toward him," Williams wrote.She noted this was "a limitation surely known by former White House Counsel and the current Acting Attorney General."Opposition to that same audit shield is now blocking Blanche's Senate confirmation.Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said earlier this week that the anti-weaponization fund language was nearly resolved, but the audit deal remained the problem."We're trying to work just to get the language," Tillis told reporters. "I really do believe it's just a drafting exercise."He flagged "the remaining language on the audit" deal as the central issue.Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said Thursday that he and Blanche had nearly reached a deal — until Trump stepped in."I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty much on the same page," Cornyn told reporters. "But then when the president got wind of it, he wasn't willing to go along with it.""I can see why he wants it, because it provides immunity from audits no other taxpayer would get," Cornyn added.On Truth Social Wednesday, Trump praised Blanche and threatened to pull the nomination — but said nothing about the audit deal. The appeal, filed the same day, went unannounced."I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office," Trump wrote."The president wants it both ways — he wants his audit immunity deal safeguarded, but he also wants his AG nominee confirmed," Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio wrote on X. "Absent a complete fold by Cornyn/Tillis (which nobody in either party realistically expects), Trump cannot have both."Friday morning, Trump reversed course and said Blanche "should be immediately approved as U.S. Attorney General," according to Forbes — though the audit deal standoff remained unresolved.
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Trump defends ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, further complicating Blanche nomination
President Donald Trump defended his controversial proposal for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” for Jan. 6 defendants, complicating Todd Blanche’s nomination.
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Trump says he's open to delaying Blanche nomination over GOP defectors
President Trump said Thursday that he would have "no objection" to temporarily withdrawing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination until his Republican opponents are out of office next January.The big picture: Trump's threat, directed at GOP Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.) and John Cornyn (Texas), puts Blanche's critics on notice to what the president deemed "the right thing" after their concerns stalled his nomination.Driving the news: "Todd Blanche is a STAR," Trump wrote of his former personal attorney turned Justice Department loyalist.He added that Blanche would "remain, in any event, as Acting."Cornyn had demanded a written guarantee that the administration's controversial "anti-weaponization fund" was dead.What they're saying: "POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis," Cornyn, who has broken from the president since losing his re-election primary bid to a Trump-backed challenger, quickly responded in a post on X.Reality check: Even if the president withdrew his name, Blanche could retain the vast power of the nation's chief law enforcement officer in an acting capacity, as he has since this spring.This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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Trump Throws Tantrum Over Republican Senator’s Todd Blanche Revolt
President Donald Trump lashed out Friday at Texas Senator John Cornyn for holding up acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation.Cornyn has refused to support Blanche’s nomination over Trump’s cushy settlement deal with the IRS, which granted protections for the president’s family against audits and established a nearly $1.8 billion slush fund for so-called victims of political weaponization. But in an angry social media post, Trump insisted the issue was personal. Cornyn “never had a problem” with the fund “until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump claimed that his MAGA allies deserved financial compensation because they’d been allegedly targeted by the federal government. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who cheated on his wife, was impeached by his own party on corruption charges, and illegally targeted his donor’s enemies as state attorney general, among other transgressions. Trump has claimed that he defected from Cornyn due to the senator’s “disloyalty.” Now he’s demanding the senator he betrayed fall in line. The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed the vote to advance Blanche’s nomination, after Cornyn and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina made clear that they would not support him. Even if he’s not confirmed before the Senate’s August recess, Blanche will continue to serve as acting attorney general. But it would be a humiliating blow to the president, who is clearly losing his grip on party members.
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Senators Cornyn and Tillis Force Delay of Blanche Nomination Over Trump’s IRS Deal
John Cornyn and Thom Tillis accused the nominee for attorney general of refusing to put on paper his promise to kill aspects of the deal he cut to settle President Trump’s suit against the agency.
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Trump says he may pull Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general after key Republicans stall confirmation vote – live
Trump says he may wait until two Republican holdouts, senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, are out of office before nominating Blanche for top DoJ jobSign up for the US Breaking News emailThe US economy expanded at a sluggish 1.5% pace from April through June as rising imports weighed on growth. But consumer spending rose. And the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of inflation grew more slowly last month despite remaining above the central bank’s 2% target.The commerce department reported today that growth in US gross domestic product (GDP) – the nation’s output of goods and services – decelerated from 2.1% in the first three months of 2026 and came in below economists’ expectations. Continue reading...
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