Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

Todd Blanche is one of those guys who is something until he is something else.

Like a Democrat in New York in 2023 until he got a house in Palm Beach County, Florida, where Mar-a-Lago is located, and became a Republican in 2024. That change of affiliation probably had more than a little something to do with the premier client that his fairly fresh law firm, Blanche Law (est. 2023), represented in criminal court in New York in 2024, none other than then-citizen Donald Trump.

Unfortunately for said client, he was convicted in state court of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Those, incidentally, are felonies.

And it is worth pointing out that this is the case related to records being falsified so Trump could make a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, through Michael Cohen, before the 2016 election. That way his association with the actress known for work including The Witches of Breastwick and Erotic Sins of My Neighbor wouldn’t be made public.

Despite the loss in court — and, of course, there are appeals, but even should those appeals prove there were some procedural errors such that the verdict is thrown out, as Mitt Romney noted: “You don’t pay someone $130,000 not to have sex with you,” so that aspect will never go away (curious how this incident is overlooked by, especially, the evangelical Christian women who undoubtedly know the Seventh Commandment) — Blanche got a job in the Trump Administration as the US deputy attorney general.

It is worth knowing that Blanche is not some kind of lightweight like others who have apparently been put on Team Trump because they (or their spouses) are telegenic, not because they actually have the appropriate skillset. Blanche spent some time working as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, not the sort of place where a lightweight gets a desk.

But it seems that Blanche has become something of sock puppet for the man who gave him his present job.

Appearing on ABC News’ This Week with George Stephanopoulos — not “Slopadopolis,” as the leader of the free world likes to put it, with a level of sophistication that make kindergarteners envious — Blanche was asked by Stephanopoulos about his confirmation hearing testimony, when he committed to not participating in partisan political investigations.

Stephanopoulos went on: “Since then, as you know, a number of targets of President Trump, have been publicly targeted by President Trump, have been prosecuted or investigated. …  It includes the former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Senators Adam Schiff, Mark Kelly, and Elissa Slotkin, Governor Tim Walz, and Mayor Jacob Frey.

“So, how do you respond to those who say you've broken your commitment?”

Blanche’s opening response is classic: “You just showed a handful of investigations or grand jury indictments that have been brought. We are -- we are investigating tens of thousands of individuals and cases every single day. They are not political in base. The fact that you cherry-picked a handful that some people in the media have said, ‘Oh, those must be political,’ is absurd and not fair.”

Of course the Department of Justice is “investigating tens of thousands of individuals and cases every single day.” But tens of thousands of those individuals haven’t had various attacks on them on social media or in public statements by the president of the United States.

Blanche’s answer continued: “I mean, don't forget, George, when I walk into the Oval Office right now, I look around. And oftentimes every single person in that room was heavily attacked and gone after by the last Biden administration. And so, when I said to Congress and when I say to you right now that what we're -- there's not a whiff of political partisanship in what we're doing, I mean that. The mere fact that some Democrats, or some individuals who have spoken out against President Trump are being investigated is because there -- that's what the Department of Justice does. It doesn't make it political because we're investigating.”

Oh, that’s right, there were people in the White House who were “heavily attacked and gone after by the last Biden administration.” So if Biden did that, then “there’s not a whiff of political partisanship in what we’re doing”? Really? Then why bring up the Biden administration?

And are those people named just “some Democrats, or some individuals who have spoken out against President Trump”? The Fed chair is just some guy? The attorney general of New York is just some woman?

And when did speaking out against the president become a reason for a Justice Department investigation?

Well, it does now.

Stephanopoulos: “Those indictments of James Comey and Letitia James came after the president explicitly said they're guilty as hell and justice must be served right now. They came after career attorneys refused to bring the indictments, and both cases have been dismissed.”

Stephanopoulos actually truncated the list as the post that Donald Trump put on his social media site is: "Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam 'Shifty' Schiff, Leticia??? They're all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!"

And the marching orders are clearly revealed:

Blanche: “I mean, when you -- I don't know what it means to say they’ve come after people. I mean, listen, if you're a prosecutor in the Department of Justice, you are expected to effectuate this administration's priorities, like every single prosecutor in every administration. There are some prosecutors within the department who have chosen to leave. They don't want to do that. That is their right. That is fine. But if you're going to work in this department, you are going to execute on the president's priorities, and that's what we do.”

While organizationally the Department of Justice is part of the executive branch, historically it has been an independent organization, not a 115,000-member law firm directed by the president.

In fact, on the DoJ’s website, under “Our Values,” the first item is this:

“Independence and Impartiality. We work each day to earn the public’s trust by following the facts and the law wherever they may lead, without prejudice or improper influence.”

Isn’t “They're all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!" prejudicial by its very definition?

And Blanche must remember those Due Process Clauses in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments — the bit about being innocent before being proven guilty.

Stephanopoulos, picking up on the “execute on the president’s priorities,” said: “Well, you just -- you just actually made my point right there. You said it's the president's priorities. The president calls for them publicly to be prosecuted, says they're guilty as hell, and then they're prosecuted.”

The response to this?

Blanche: “Now that's not the president's priorities. That's a truth that he sent out. The president's priorities are executing on making America safe again. And that's what we're doing.”

(Lest you be confused, the “truth” is what is otherwise considered a “tweet” unless it appears on the president’s platform.)

How are we made “safe” by investigating the former head of the FBI?

Blanche insisted: “under no circumstances do we turn to a prosecutor and say you need to go after somebody because they are politically one way or another. We have never done that, and we won't do that.”

Does anyone — including Blanche — believe that?

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.