The constant flaunting of laws, legal requirements and procedures by Trump and his administration cronies has revealed a startling and unexpected weakness in American democracy. Safeguards, checks and balances are only effective if they…safeguard, check and balance. Clearly, they can be ignored making obvious how ultimately ineffective, fragile and limp the supposed icon of freedom and democracy America is. Flag waving and chants of “U.S.A.” are more comical than they are an expression of justified national pride.
Blanche and many others in his former client's circle exploit the freedom we all enjoy by doing whatever they want and if caught doing something unlawful (freedom under the law) take further advantage of their position and knowledge of the judicial system to avoid the consequences. They obstruct, lie, act in bad faith, and squander our tax dollars. Senators must not give him the honor of serving as AG. He and so many others are untrustworthy. If he is confirmed, it will further weaken people's faith in our system; which only works if people believe in it and act in good faith. The framers left a hole in the system for worms like Blanche to squeeze through.
Twump's theme song is not the gay anthem he throws his arms up for, it is rather the theme song of his TV show: Money. All of his minions dance to that tune. Those minions, once called checks, balance, and guardrails are oozing through his administration but also have stained the carpets of Congress. They are all part of the problem that the founding fathers knew could be there but could not have imagined the depth and width of.
I believe that the founders -- many of them, at any rate -- not only recognized the problem but knew very well how deep and wide it was. That's why they didn't choose to grapple with it. In their day it manifested as slavery, but its essence was economic power. Eventually the nation went to war over it, one half against the other half, and though it was briefly defeated, it had come roaring back by the end of the 1870s in the form of Jim Crow.
It came roaring back *again* in the form of Nixon's "Southern Strategy" and especially the Reagan administration. See what the clever, nefarious Reaganites did? To get the votes they needed, they dangled racism and sexism in front of the mostly white "bring back the '50s" crowd and used their victories to enrich the already wealthy with tax breaks and deregulation. (Whether the '50s they wanted to bring back was the 1950s or the 1850s I've never been sure.)
Republicans, with a big assist from Bill Clinton, have been running this scam ever since. And now, as I keep saying, here we are.
As a mom and a high school teacher for decades, I have learned to see and hear prevarications and falsehoods, and what I cannot see, instinct raises little arm and neck hairs and my brain tingles. Jim Jordan is a man of deep secrets, buried so securely he cannot loosen the rigidity of his guilt. He knows what he saw and did nothing about and it is as plain as the ugly mug of his face. I am going to say this: he is also filled with regret because he knows he could have done something and was too cowardly to do so. He knows what kind of person he is. He has to live with that.
A lawyer friend of mine said that roughly 85% of CA attorneys have substance abuse issues. Mainly alcohol. Self-medicating with intoxicants to try and anaesthetize their collective guilt.
How many times does Blanche get to push the issue down the road? How many excuses does he get to argue that he does not have to comply with the law? And what is the Senate going to do when he skirts the issues with more lame excuses during his hearing today?
The Senate has a chance to reject this absurd nomination of a man who clearly does not obey the laws of our country, and has no intention of doing so. They are the ones on trial today, for sure.
Yes! If Blanche is confirmed it will be all about Congress and less about Trump. Still, even if he is not confirmed can he still remain acting AG until someone else is nominated? My view is that Trump doesn't much care if his nominees are confirmed or not. They still do what he wants.
There is a remedy available if the court chooses to use it. Contempt of court can put someone in jail until they comply. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see Blanche being handcuffed and led out of the courtroom?
I beg to differ. We may collectively think that is true. But in court, if the judge finds someone in contempt and to be remanded, the bailiff(s) then slap the cuffs on and off they go. They don't say to the judge, "Um, I don't want to." They work for the court system, not the oaf in the WH. It would be good for a man like Mr. Blanche to sit in jail and stew in his own juice for a while.
Public outrage was bubbling, previously stirring the political class a tad… then war against Iran pushed the furor back to the recesses of the American mind… we have this tendency to move on to the next event, and to forget the previous outrage (see the Capital insurrection riots — pardon me?). Let’s call time, recess is over. Don’t allow the politicians to school us once again… the Blanche confirmation hearing is major national news— United States media do your jobs —report to the people!
If Todd Blanche is confirmed as attorney general, then women have truly lost their standing in this country and are instead, made willing victims of sexual assault by adults. A girl without a parent's support, or even with a complicit parent like Virginia Guiffre's father, are open season for men like Epstein, Twump, et al. I certainly hope that Blanche's children, if he has any, and if they are female, will not suffer the same fate as the Epstein victims. But in this world of karma, he should probably send his girl children and grandchildren to a nunnery to escape their fate of sexual assault by powerful men with money (and the women who protect them) who buy the highest legal guardians as their own.
I keep thinking about the modeling agencies these men ran that were openly sex trafficking girls. And then I think about the other adjacent industries that exploit women and girls in the same way: beauty pageants.
I always appreciate your perspective Katy. I am the mom of a strong, intelligent 24 year old adults daughter who began competing in pageants (not all are “beauty” pageants) as an 8 year old. I was a reluctant mom. Over 16 years, and still today, she has competed in over 4 different systems- National American Miss (Miss Michigan Teen Queen 2021) Collegiate America, Royal American Beauty and Sunburst. Never once has anything like Trumps heinous actions ever happened because they would never be allowed. Period. I would never have allowed her to participate.
Prophet, I have never heard stories of exploitation by pageant owners like the stories Twump himself bragged about on the Howard Stern show. Just disgusting.
Several women, at the time girls, have also told stories of his vile behavior during his ownership of the pageants.
As moms, we need to always be vigilant and we also must allow our daughters to venture into the world. The free pass Epstein's friends are getting will only make the world less safe for girls and women.
Thank you for speaking up and defending an industry he would soil.
They are calling Liz Oyer, who is the pardon attorney fired by Blanche because she would not give a pardon to Mel Gibson, who could not own a gun due to a conviction on domestic abuse.
Zorro Ranch is clearly a flash point for these monsters.... sadly, the rumors are more than likely true... which puts everyone involved with epstein on a different level....sadistic murderers
This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee will interview Todd Blanche as part of the process of determining his fitness to hold the position of Attorney General. I hope every Senator on that committee has read this report. They should also read all of the court filings Katie Phang has submitted and the judge's response to those. Not only is Blanche unfit to be Attorney General, he is also unfit to practice law. He should be disbarred and face any other sanctions our courts can impose.
Epstein was probably rich enough to qualify as a plutocrat , he certainly catered to people in that class. The plutocracy has been funding republican elections for a very long time. Do you think the Republican senators are going to go against their handler’s? I’m sure the pressure from the plutocracy to block the files is tremendous even more so since their puppet president and they themselves could be exposed.
Given all the talk about impeaching Trump should Dems take Congress after the mid-terms, I'm beginning to think the Epstein Files will actually prevail. My rationale; All the legal process with impeachment will take time as it winds its way through the courts to SCOTUS even if the new Congress is able to get its act together. Like with Alphonse Capone and his tax returns in the 30s, Trump will be liable for his actions with Epstein because they happened prior to his presidency and he will have no immunity. He is old and sick so will most likely not have to sit in court (for health reasons), or go to actual jail, but will die in obscurity at Mar-A-Lago, his only refuge in his crumbling world. We will be busy enough with everyone else, despite the pardons Trump issues before he resigns and flees to Florida. Katie Phang will become a sort-of folk hero for bringing down Trump with her efforts.
The pinnacle of corruption is the ruining of people's lives for your own personal enjoyment. Exposing these wealthy influential individuals is a first step in eliminating political corruption.
The constant flaunting of laws, legal requirements and procedures by Trump and his administration cronies has revealed a startling and unexpected weakness in American democracy. Safeguards, checks and balances are only effective if they…safeguard, check and balance. Clearly, they can be ignored making obvious how ultimately ineffective, fragile and limp the supposed icon of freedom and democracy America is. Flag waving and chants of “U.S.A.” are more comical than they are an expression of justified national pride.
Blanche and many others in his former client's circle exploit the freedom we all enjoy by doing whatever they want and if caught doing something unlawful (freedom under the law) take further advantage of their position and knowledge of the judicial system to avoid the consequences. They obstruct, lie, act in bad faith, and squander our tax dollars. Senators must not give him the honor of serving as AG. He and so many others are untrustworthy. If he is confirmed, it will further weaken people's faith in our system; which only works if people believe in it and act in good faith. The framers left a hole in the system for worms like Blanche to squeeze through.
Twump's theme song is not the gay anthem he throws his arms up for, it is rather the theme song of his TV show: Money. All of his minions dance to that tune. Those minions, once called checks, balance, and guardrails are oozing through his administration but also have stained the carpets of Congress. They are all part of the problem that the founding fathers knew could be there but could not have imagined the depth and width of.
I believe that the founders -- many of them, at any rate -- not only recognized the problem but knew very well how deep and wide it was. That's why they didn't choose to grapple with it. In their day it manifested as slavery, but its essence was economic power. Eventually the nation went to war over it, one half against the other half, and though it was briefly defeated, it had come roaring back by the end of the 1870s in the form of Jim Crow.
It came roaring back *again* in the form of Nixon's "Southern Strategy" and especially the Reagan administration. See what the clever, nefarious Reaganites did? To get the votes they needed, they dangled racism and sexism in front of the mostly white "bring back the '50s" crowd and used their victories to enrich the already wealthy with tax breaks and deregulation. (Whether the '50s they wanted to bring back was the 1950s or the 1850s I've never been sure.)
Republicans, with a big assist from Bill Clinton, have been running this scam ever since. And now, as I keep saying, here we are.
Matthew, well said! 👍🏼
This Todd Blanche is the Jim Jordan of Attorney General nominees. Awful behavior, but of course, it comes with the territory.
As a mom and a high school teacher for decades, I have learned to see and hear prevarications and falsehoods, and what I cannot see, instinct raises little arm and neck hairs and my brain tingles. Jim Jordan is a man of deep secrets, buried so securely he cannot loosen the rigidity of his guilt. He knows what he saw and did nothing about and it is as plain as the ugly mug of his face. I am going to say this: he is also filled with regret because he knows he could have done something and was too cowardly to do so. He knows what kind of person he is. He has to live with that.
A lawyer friend of mine said that roughly 85% of CA attorneys have substance abuse issues. Mainly alcohol. Self-medicating with intoxicants to try and anaesthetize their collective guilt.
My BIL was a CA appellate court attorney. He ran NA meetings during lunch for addicts. The meetings were packed.
How many times does Blanche get to push the issue down the road? How many excuses does he get to argue that he does not have to comply with the law? And what is the Senate going to do when he skirts the issues with more lame excuses during his hearing today?
The Senate has a chance to reject this absurd nomination of a man who clearly does not obey the laws of our country, and has no intention of doing so. They are the ones on trial today, for sure.
Yes! If Blanche is confirmed it will be all about Congress and less about Trump. Still, even if he is not confirmed can he still remain acting AG until someone else is nominated? My view is that Trump doesn't much care if his nominees are confirmed or not. They still do what he wants.
There is a remedy available if the court chooses to use it. Contempt of court can put someone in jail until they comply. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see Blanche being handcuffed and led out of the courtroom?
You have to have law enforcement to arrest him and no FBI or Marshall or Police or Military will do that.
I beg to differ. We may collectively think that is true. But in court, if the judge finds someone in contempt and to be remanded, the bailiff(s) then slap the cuffs on and off they go. They don't say to the judge, "Um, I don't want to." They work for the court system, not the oaf in the WH. It would be good for a man like Mr. Blanche to sit in jail and stew in his own juice for a while.
Public outrage was bubbling, previously stirring the political class a tad… then war against Iran pushed the furor back to the recesses of the American mind… we have this tendency to move on to the next event, and to forget the previous outrage (see the Capital insurrection riots — pardon me?). Let’s call time, recess is over. Don’t allow the politicians to school us once again… the Blanche confirmation hearing is major national news— United States media do your jobs —report to the people!
If Todd Blanche is confirmed as attorney general, then women have truly lost their standing in this country and are instead, made willing victims of sexual assault by adults. A girl without a parent's support, or even with a complicit parent like Virginia Guiffre's father, are open season for men like Epstein, Twump, et al. I certainly hope that Blanche's children, if he has any, and if they are female, will not suffer the same fate as the Epstein victims. But in this world of karma, he should probably send his girl children and grandchildren to a nunnery to escape their fate of sexual assault by powerful men with money (and the women who protect them) who buy the highest legal guardians as their own.
I keep thinking about the modeling agencies these men ran that were openly sex trafficking girls. And then I think about the other adjacent industries that exploit women and girls in the same way: beauty pageants.
I always appreciate your perspective Katy. I am the mom of a strong, intelligent 24 year old adults daughter who began competing in pageants (not all are “beauty” pageants) as an 8 year old. I was a reluctant mom. Over 16 years, and still today, she has competed in over 4 different systems- National American Miss (Miss Michigan Teen Queen 2021) Collegiate America, Royal American Beauty and Sunburst. Never once has anything like Trumps heinous actions ever happened because they would never be allowed. Period. I would never have allowed her to participate.
Prophet, I have never heard stories of exploitation by pageant owners like the stories Twump himself bragged about on the Howard Stern show. Just disgusting.
Several women, at the time girls, have also told stories of his vile behavior during his ownership of the pageants.
As moms, we need to always be vigilant and we also must allow our daughters to venture into the world. The free pass Epstein's friends are getting will only make the world less safe for girls and women.
Thank you for speaking up and defending an industry he would soil.
That’s good to hear
Are the Democrats on the committee calling Phang as a witness? If not, why not?
They are calling Liz Oyer, who is the pardon attorney fired by Blanche because she would not give a pardon to Mel Gibson, who could not own a gun due to a conviction on domestic abuse.
Zorro Ranch is clearly a flash point for these monsters.... sadly, the rumors are more than likely true... which puts everyone involved with epstein on a different level....sadistic murderers
Track Todd Blanche's connections with others people in the Epstein Files with this interactive relationship map.
https://thedemlabs.org/2026/07/09/todd-blanche-epstein-files-coverup-map/
Toad Blanche does scowling so well - and it's about the ONLY thing he does well!
This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee will interview Todd Blanche as part of the process of determining his fitness to hold the position of Attorney General. I hope every Senator on that committee has read this report. They should also read all of the court filings Katie Phang has submitted and the judge's response to those. Not only is Blanche unfit to be Attorney General, he is also unfit to practice law. He should be disbarred and face any other sanctions our courts can impose.
Epstein was probably rich enough to qualify as a plutocrat , he certainly catered to people in that class. The plutocracy has been funding republican elections for a very long time. Do you think the Republican senators are going to go against their handler’s? I’m sure the pressure from the plutocracy to block the files is tremendous even more so since their puppet president and they themselves could be exposed.
Given all the talk about impeaching Trump should Dems take Congress after the mid-terms, I'm beginning to think the Epstein Files will actually prevail. My rationale; All the legal process with impeachment will take time as it winds its way through the courts to SCOTUS even if the new Congress is able to get its act together. Like with Alphonse Capone and his tax returns in the 30s, Trump will be liable for his actions with Epstein because they happened prior to his presidency and he will have no immunity. He is old and sick so will most likely not have to sit in court (for health reasons), or go to actual jail, but will die in obscurity at Mar-A-Lago, his only refuge in his crumbling world. We will be busy enough with everyone else, despite the pardons Trump issues before he resigns and flees to Florida. Katie Phang will become a sort-of folk hero for bringing down Trump with her efforts.
Yes, and Mar-A-Lago will receive an accelerated climate change torment produced by the MAGA indifference.
Blanche should be indicted for conspiracy to obstruct justice
The pinnacle of corruption is the ruining of people's lives for your own personal enjoyment. Exposing these wealthy influential individuals is a first step in eliminating political corruption.
CONSTITUENT MEANS DONOR
If the truth were ever to come out about trump and epstein it wold show that trump was no better than epstein.