Trump Ended Their Careers. They Handed Him the Justice Department Anyway.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelfanone.substack.comTrump’s personal criminal defense lawyer now runs the Justice Department.Todd Blanche isn’t just some conservative attorney Trump plucked to lead the DOJ. This is the man who sat next to Trump at the defense table and fought his federal criminal charges. Then Trump put him inside the department, and once he was running it in an acting capacity, he moved hard to advance Trump’s agenda. Now the Senate has handed him the keys for good — by a vote of 50 to 49.Every Democrat voted no. Two Republicans, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, voted no. Everybody else folded. And it’s who folded that tells the story.Take Bill Cassidy. He voted to convict Trump after January 6th, and Trump never forgot it — Cassidy lost his primary to a Trump-backed challenger, and his Senate career is ending. Trump already got his revenge. If any Republican was ever free to say “fine, I’ll vote my conscience, the man already ended me,” it was Cassidy.Nope. Cassidy became the decisive vote that put Blanche over the top. And listen to his reasoning: this “is not a referendum on President Trump,” he said — and maybe the fact that Blanche once represented Trump personally would make him better at pushing back on Trump’s worst impulses. Read that again. We’re supposed to want Blanche as attorney general because Trump trusts him enough that he might occasionally tell him no. That’s where the party is.Then there’s Thom Tillis and John Cornyn, who nearly derailed the nomination over that $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” Under Blanche, the DOJ had announced a settlement creating a pot of money to compensate people who claimed they’d been mistreated by the justice system — including January 6th defendants and other Trump allies — plus provisions designed to shield Trump and his family from IRS audits. Tillis and Cornyn balked. Blanche backed down, rescinded the fund in writing, and agreed to rein in the tax provisions. That was enough. Nomination moves forward, and we’re all supposed to feel better.I don’t. Because remember who this is. Blanche defended Trump in the New York hush-money case and against the federal prosecutions. Trump made him deputy attorney general, then acting AG, and when Pam Bondi was fired he took over and pushed harder. Per the Associated Press, under Blanche the department accelerated investigations into Trump’s perceived enemies — moving to indict former FBI Director James Comey over a ridiculous social media post with seashells arranged to read “86 47,” and appointing Joseph diGenova to investigate whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired to undermine Trump.And this is the man we’re supposed to trust because he wrote a letter killing a slush fund? Maybe he keeps that promise. I hope he does. But if you think a piece of paper turns Todd Blanche into an independent attorney general who’ll stand between Trump and whatever he demands next, you’re far more trusting than I am. So was Murkowski, who voted no and said the country needs an attorney general “who will check the worst impulses of this administration.” That’s the job. Not Trump’s lawyer. Not Trump’s fixer. Not Trump’s enforcer.Here’s the bigger thing, and it’s the part that actually explains all of it. Cassidy’s career is over. Tillis is leaving. These are exactly the men who should have the least left to fear from Trump — and they still won’t cross him. Why?Because leaving office isn’t the same as leaving Republican politics. There’s a whole ecosystem waiting after Congress — corporate boards, law firms, think tanks, lobbying shops, speaking fees, book deals, cable contracts, consulting. And to stay a Republican in good standing in that world, there’s still one ring you’re expected to kiss. That’s the power Trump has built. It’s not just fear of a primary anymore. It’s fear of exile from the entire professional world around the party.Which makes it even more pathetic, because what would Cassidy actually have lost by voting no? Trump already beat him. What does Tillis have to fear? He’s out. If there was ever a moment to stand up for the institution you serve, this was it.Instead, Blanche got 50 votes. Republicans will tell themselves they extracted concessions, point to the letter, say maybe his bond with Trump means he can restrain him. We’ve seen this movie. They convince themselves that this time there’s a guardrail, this time someone in the room says no, this time the institution holds. Then Trump pushes, and they move.Todd Blanche didn’t confirm himself. Trump didn’t have 50 votes — Republican senators did. And even the ones with nothing left to lose couldn’t say no. That’s not loyalty, and it’s not principle. It’s submission.🟧 Paid subscribers get 15% off your next merch order🟧 Founding Members get 20% off for lifeYou’ll get the link in your welcome email.GET DISCOUNTS BELOW! ENJOY!