Todd Blanche

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    The Fund Is Dead. The Tax Break Survived.

    ByPhil McCracken

    Washington has discovered a new form of accounting: cancel the giant government fund, keep the boss’s special protection, and announce that the ledger is clean. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche formally terminated the proposed $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, according to the Associated Press. AP also reported that no money had been transferred and no claims had been paid. So taxpayers did not already write the full check. The question is what stayed on the invoice after the check was stamped void.

    The answer, according to AP’s reporting on Blanche’s written order, is a retroactive tax-audit protection for Donald Trump, his two sons, and the Trump Organization. Republican senators had tied ending the proposed fund to Blanche’s confirmation negotiations. The fund went away. The Trump-specific protection did not.

    That is not exactly a refund. It is more like Capitol Hill billing: cross out the scary line item in thick black ink, leave the executive’s personal coupon attached, and call the procurement officer a hero. A judge had rejected the tax-audit provision as improper self-dealing, AP reported. That is reported legal context, not a license for anyone to declare criminal intent from the comedy desk.

    But ordinary taxpayers understand the basic imbalance without a forensic accountant. The public-facing liability can disappear before money moves, while a politically valuable exception survives in writing. The proposed fund is dead; the protection is still breathing. Why do regular people get the audit, the paperwork, and the waiting-room chair while politically connected beneficiaries get retroactive shelter? Washington can cancel the scary check whenever the cameras arrive. The real test is whether it also removes the coupon.

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    DOJ’s “Rule of Law” Stretch Goal (Please Submit Proof in Writing)

    ByMike Rotch

    I love the “rule of law” crowd. I also love when grown-ups claim they’re being careful and then treat paperwork like it’s optional seasoning. DOJ, via Acting AG Todd Blanche, has been selling a plan/fund that won’t move forward “as stated” like it’s a mature compliance move.

    But a federal judge’s record says the underlying IRS settlement process was improper enough to trigger penalties for attorneys. And when the government’s “trust us” needs to be translated into something boring and enforceable—like a pledge actually in writing—reporting says Blanche wouldn’t commit the promise on paper when asked.

    So here’s my kitchen-table rule: if it’s really off the table “as stated,” then sign the statement that proves it. Otherwise you don’t have rule of law—you have improv with a tie, where the only receipts are vibes.

    The consequence isn’t just legal theater. It’s the public being asked to accept “following the court” as a brand promise, while the court, the record, and the lawmakers all keep demanding the one thing government spokespeople can’t seem to stand—documentation. Paper matters. And apparently, so does dodging it.

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