WEBVTT - Blanche AG Nomination Moves Forward & Betting on Maduro Raid 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:07.520 This is Bloomberg Law with June Grossel from Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.959 The problem with confirming Todd Blanche is that he has 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:16.400 never been able to shed his role as criminal defense 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:21.200 lawyer for Donald Trump. He just can't do it. He 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:24.560 does not represent the American people now. He will never 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.560 represent the American people. He will never do what's best 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:30.720 for the American people. He will only do its best 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:32.200 for Donald Trump. 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:36.320 When he has sworn in as Attorney General, he will 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:41.640 have to swear to uphold, support and defend the Constitution, 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:45.479 but we know that oath will take a back seat 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.320 to his loyalty to the president. 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:53.040 It was a consistent criticism from Democratic senators like Adam 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:57.120 Schiff and Masie Herono to the nomination of Todd Blanche 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.800 to be the next Attorney General. He's apparent willingness to 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:05.759 aggressively push to meet all of President Trump's demands, eroding 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:09.399 the traditional independence of the Department of Justice. It had 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:13.640 looked like Blanche's nomination was in jeopardy under pressure from 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:18.559 two Republicans over the controversial deal settling Trump's lawsuit against 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:22.319 the IRS with a one point eight billion dollar so 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:27.760 called anti Weaponization fund to compensate his allies, but Republican 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:32.200 Senators John Cornyn and Tom Tillis dropped their opposition after 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:36.319 Blanche posted an order rescinding the fund late Sunday night. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.840 I've never liked this seventeen seventy six fund. It made 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:41.240 no sense to me, and I thought it was an 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.320 insult to the police officers of the people that defended 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:48.720 us on January sixth. It's done, it's been rescinded, and 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:49.960 I am satisfied. 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:54.840 Tillis may be satisfied, but Democratic senators like Corey Booker 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:59.200 say the papers attached to Blanche's post have no legal 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:01.280 significance at all. 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:07.840 This is ridiculous. We got nothing, no guarantees whatsoever that 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:11.360 this slush one still can't go forward. We got nothing 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:14.960 that the president of the United States can't cheat on 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:17.120 his taxes and have no accountability. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.399 The vote to advance Blanche's nomination was twelve to ten, 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:25.960 along party lines. Joining me is an expert in constitutional law, 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:30.320 David super, a professor at Georgetown Law. David so tell 0:02:30.400 --> 0:02:34.720 us about the two pages Blanche posted, an order signed 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:38.480 by him, and an unsigned memo from the Justice Department. 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:42.320 He basically typed up what he said at the hearing 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:47.480 and posted it. There's literally nothing new there, and indeed 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:49.480 he said there was nothing new there. He's telling the 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:53.280 truth on that. I'm sure he prepared his talking points 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:56.320 for the hearing very very carefully, that those words were 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:02.880 not extemporaneous, and these are the same. He says, looking 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:10.640 entirely retrospectively, that the so called weaponization fund did not 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.920 get off the ground. He does not make any promises 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.320 that they won't do something like that tomorrow, but he says, 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.720 and I think this is historically actuate, it did not start. 0:03:21.040 --> 0:03:25.400 And then he says that the immunity for Trump is 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:29.640 limited to Trump, his family, and his organization, which were 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.480 the parties the case. We always knew them. So he 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:38.720 is setting to rest the fears of people who can't read, 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.040 but he is leaving the rest of us just as 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:44.840 nervous as we were before. 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:48.520 The settlement agreement. Says, this settlement agreement may be modified 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:52.920 only with the written agreement of the parties. And President 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:56.640 Trump didn't sign anything, and he told reporters on Wednesday 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:57.920 that he didn't even look at this. 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:04.440 Yeah, there's many holes here, it's hard to count them. 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:09.360 Blanche says, the agreement didn't go forward, but as you note, 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.720 they don't modify it, and he doesn't have authority to 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:17.080 modify it, unless you say, well, actually, he's Trump's lawyer 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.280 in all respects, so he can modify it on behalf 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.080 of both the plaintiffs and the defendants, which I don't 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.800 think is quite the case. But he has no authority 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:29.240 to modify it because it requires the agreement of the 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.920 plaintiff's council. So he didn't modify it. He just said 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:35.800 they didn't act on it, which is true, but doesn't 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:38.560 mean they won't act on it in the immediate future 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:43.839 as soon as he's confirmed. And he says that they 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.440 haven't put the money out there, but he doesn't promise 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.800 not to raid the Justice Fund for payoffs for more 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:54.279 Trump affiliated law breakers. The judgment Fund is still there, 0:04:54.960 --> 0:05:00.400 and if Senator Cornyin really was concerned about this, he 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:04.359 should have asked mister blanche for the administration's agreement to 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.720 an amendment to the Justice Fund, a quick unanimous consent 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:11.760 bill amending the Justice Fund to make it unavailable to 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:15.480 pay for settlements with anyone affiliated with the president. That 0:05:15.520 --> 0:05:17.920 would be an easy fix to make sure this never 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.680 happens again, as far as we can tell, that was 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:22.799 even requested, much less done. 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:27.560 Cornyn admitted that the written assurances Blanche gave could later 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:32.240 be reversed, but said despite that, he believed the commitments 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:35.000 that Blanche had given him in recent days. I mean, 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:39.080 this reminds me of Susan Collins saying she believed Brett 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.360 Kavanaugh when he said that, you know, roe versus Wade 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:43.280 was safe. 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.080 And then when we looked at it, it turned out 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:51.280 that Senator Collins had accepted as an assurance something that 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:56.279 Shirley wasn't Justice Kavanaugh and did the justice as Alito 0:05:56.440 --> 0:06:01.000 and Roberts before him had said that Roe v. Wade 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:05.200 was settled law, which is obviously true, but he also 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:08.159 was seeking a job where he would have the authority 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:12.280 to unsettle it, which he did. And so they describe 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:16.799 the present willout making any promises for the future, and 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:21.960 the senators that vote for their confirmation then pretend to 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:27.040 be surprised when they act on powers that they clearly 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:32.680 had clearly retained and never swore off. I can absolutely 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:38.680 believe that if all Todd Blanche said in private to 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:40.960 Senator Cornyn was more or less what he said in 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.599 public at the hearing that he will adhere to that 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.720 the old settlement fund won't go forward. There will be 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:50.839 a new settlement fund that you and I and anybody 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:53.480 else who doesn't have an electron microscope won't be able 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.119 to tell from the old one, but it'll be new. 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.520 So he will have nominally kept his word. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.880 Also, a federal judge in Florida had issued a ruling 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:08.880 preventing Trump from enforcing the settlements, saying that the lawsuit 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.720 was brought for an improper purpose to gain the imprimature 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:16.080 of judicial legitimacy for a settlement that had no viable 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:20.320 basis in law or fact. Trump on July thirty first 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.720 filed notice with the court that he's going to appeal 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.040 that ruling. What does that tell you? 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:29.679 It tells you that the weaponization Fund is not dead, 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:35.680 that the tax community is not gone, and that this 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:40.720 is just a second saga in the collusive litigation. Because 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.760 of course Trump appeals that decision, and then he orders 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:48.920 the Justice Department not to fight the appeal, so it 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:53.240 will be uncontested in the appellate court. I hope the 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:58.600 Eleventh Circuit has the integrity to appoint someone to participate 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:00.880 as a friend of the court to make the arguments 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:05.120 for affirming what the district court did. But saying we're 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.720 going through more judicial proceedings where we control both sides 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:12.320 of the case should give nobody any reassurance. The whole 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:15.320 point of our system is that is an adversary system, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:18.480 and it only works well, it only purports to work 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:22.160 well when there are serious advocates on both sides. There's 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:23.679 never been that in this case. 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:28.640 Democratic centers voice their opposition to Blanche for other reasons, 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:32.960 the departure of thousands of attorneys and staff at the 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:37.240 Justice Department, the weaponization of the department to pursue Trump's 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:41.600 political enemies. He's protecting Trump in the bungle release of 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:45.080 the Epstein files, to name a few. How do you 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:48.319 judge his performance as acting Attorney General? 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:57.160 Mister Blanche has taken more than two hundred years of careful, 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:03.280 mostly nonpartisan professionalism at the Justice Department and thrown it 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:07.440 in the trash. And he has shown everybody just how 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:14.559 politicized the Department could be. When someone single handedly destroys 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:18.319 the tradition of an agency, he should not be continued 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:23.000 in a position of leading that agency. And if mister 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:26.280 Trump is determined to have Todd Blanche there. He should 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.800 be serving in an unconfirmed capacity. What he will now 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:33.720 have is the blessing of the United States Senate, which 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:36.040 was well aware of all the things that he did. 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:41.440 This will, of course become enormously controversial next time we 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:46.120 have a democratic administration and a democratic Attorney general tries 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:49.920 to follow some of the presidents that mister Blanche set. 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.520 I hope a democratic attorney general won't follow these precedents 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:57.120 because they're just bad for the country. Whatever side of 0:09:57.120 --> 0:10:01.560 the artisan eil you're on. But he is completely reconceived 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:07.400 the Justice Department. Mister Trump has famously complained that he 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:11.920 needed a roy Cohne, he needed a dirty lawyer to 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:14.839 push the limits and get him what he wants, and 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:16.079 I think he's found one. 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:21.880 I was surprised that the Epstein victim's opposition to Blench 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:26.320 and all that went on there didn't cause more Republicans 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:30.800 to hesitate about Blench, because that's been an issue that 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.480 President Trump has been unable to put behind him. 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:37.640 I think the word must have gone out that they've 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.720 released pretty much everything they have that doesn't terribly incriminate 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:45.480 the president or perhaps some members of Congress as well, 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:50.080 and that the word is that they don't dare push 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:54.439 any farther because the results will be catastrophic. I think 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.800 a great many people who voted for the president, and 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:00.840 who voted for Republican members of Congress to support the 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:06.200 president would be shocked, appalled, and deeply disillusioned if they 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:10.440 found out that the President was as closely involved in 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:16.120 mister Epstein's criminal activities as we keep being told. And 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:21.640 the presence in these files of references to documents that 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.760 have not been released is an ongoing problem. I think 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.000 the decision has been made by Republicans and that they're 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.839 largely following the party line to not press further on 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.760 this because there's nothing else that could be done that 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:36.839 wouldn't be destructive. 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.840 Stay with me, David. Coming up next, I'll continue this 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:44.280 conversation with Georgetown law professor David Super. What's likely to 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:47.480 happen when the full Senate votes on the confirmation of 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:49.640 Blanche This is Bloomberg. 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.800 I know I'm on that list. The President reiterated just 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.560 the other night that he hates me, which I could 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:04.560 tell you wounds me deeply. He's entitled to his own 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.400 views about me or anybody else. He is not entitled, however, 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.640 to use the Department of Justice to go after his 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:15.200 political opponents. And the day we say that's okay, and 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.240 the day we confirm an attorney general who says that's okay, 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:23.120 is the day that the rule of law becomes merely 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:26.079 an unenforceable idea. 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:29.880 Senator Adam Schiff was one of the Democrats on the 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:34.359 Senate Judiciary Committee who voiced their opposition to the nomination 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:38.240 of President Trump's former criminal defense lawyer to be the 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:42.679 next Attorney General of the United States. But Blanche cleared 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.920 that first Senate hurdle after he struck a deal with 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:51.000 two outgoing Republican members about President Trump's one point eight 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:56.520 billion dollar so called Anti Weaponization Fund. But Senator Dick Durbin, 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:01.840 the ranking Democrat on the committee, accused Blood of perjuring himself, 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:05.679 saying Blanche told him creating the fund was a mistake 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.840 in front of witnesses during a private meeting in his 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:13.320 office and then lied by denying that during his confirmation hearing. 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.000 Prior to this hearing, mister Blanche told me the quote 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:21.440 made a mistake close quote. By creating the January sixth 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.360 slush fund? Where did he say it? In my office 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:29.280 with witnesses myself to what I'm about to say. When 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.840 asking me about this under oath, mister Blanche falsely claimed 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:37.360 that he never made this statement. That's not true. Mister 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:41.240 Blanche's willingness to casually lie under oath about a statement 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.800 he made in a room full of witnesses shows the 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:47.160 links he will go to to avoid offending President Trump. 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:53.520 Almost every Democratic senator expressed concerns about Blanche's weaponization of 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:57.600 the Justice Department to pursue Trump's agenda and go after 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:01.400 his political enemies. I've been talking to Georgetown law professor 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:04.880 David Super. Do you think Durbin was setting up a 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:10.960 possible impeachment action against Blanche? If the Democrats retake Congress? 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:16.360 Even if every single Republican seat turns over in the 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:19.840 election this fall, which it obviously won't, Democrats would not 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:24.840 have enough votes to convict on impeachment anybody. And Dick 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.760 Durbins a smart man who knows how to count, so 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:32.360 I don't think he's seriously thinking about impeachment. I think 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:37.400 impeachment serves no useful purpose under these circumstances. But I 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:40.400 do think that he is trying to lay down a 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:45.120 marker for some of these trumped up perjury cases that 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:50.480 the Justice Department is bringing, the suggestion that mister Comy 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:54.640 perjured himself by saying something that was allegedly a little 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:59.640 bit unclear at hearing the assertions that doctor Fauci perjured himself. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.600 I think that mister Drmann is trying to show that 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:04.040 two can play at that game. 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:08.400 So now the nomination advances to the full Senate, where 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:12.520 the Republicans hold fifty three seats. All the Democrats will 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:16.000 vote against Blanche. Is there any Republican in the Senate 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:17.360 who might vote against him? 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.280 Susan Collins will vote no because she's in a tough 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:24.280 reelection fight, and they always let Susan Collins vote in 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:28.880 the liberal way when she's up for reelection. Social vote no. 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.560 I think Lisa Markowski will vote no because I think 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:37.080 she has integrity and recognizes that mister Blanche is weak 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.640 in that area. But I don't think you get a third. 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:42.320 Your two best bets for a third vote would be 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.720 corn in Antillis, and they've now declared themselves. 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:49.200 A few of the Democrats, in particular Sheldon Whitehouse and 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:54.560 Corey Booker mention that this was an embarrassment for the 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:58.320 Judiciary Committee that's supposed to be sort of a check 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:04.040 on the other branches of government and especially protective of 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:05.560 the justice system. 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:10.800 We are this is the Judiciary Committee. We're supposed to 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:16.120 be checking and balancing this nation. Why have people on 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:18.920 both sides of the aisle given up on any trust 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:23.920 in government is because we're surrendering any shred of integrity left. 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:29.040 And now we're letting an attorney general become the highest 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:34.720 law enforcement officer in the land and putting no holds whatsoever. 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:39.880 I mean, the Judiciary Committee has yet to reject a 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:44.760 nomination that came to them during Trump's second term. I mean, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.600 what does that say about the Judiciary Committee. 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:51.760 Well, it says the institutional identity is dead, that the 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.720 time when members of Congress felt that they were members 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:59.080 of Congress first and Democrats are Republicans second is over, 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:03.760 and that they have taken orders from the administration in 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:08.200 a way that their predecessors not that long ago would 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:11.240 become very angry if they were asked to vote for 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.359 someone embarrassing like this, and they are now just falling 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:18.680 into line. The argument that was floated over the weekend, 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.520 is we won't get a better nominee from the president. 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:26.720 I'm not sure they would, But getting someone who has 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:31.520 not committed the gross violations of public trusts that mister 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:36.359 Blanche already has is better than waiving someone through who 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:37.720 has committed those acts. 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:40.000 What kind of an attorney general do you think he'll be? 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:45.080 Sometimes when people go into positions like that, they change 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:46.280 for the better. 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.240 Sometimes, Oh, I think this is what you see is 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:53.440 what you get, situation. He by all accounts, was a 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:58.160 competent and not particularly ideological prosecutor when he started out 0:17:58.200 --> 0:17:59.800 as a lawyer, so he knows how to be a 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:03.000 good lawyer. But he's made a decision in his life 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.080 and there's no reason to think he would change, particularly 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:08.959 since he can be dismissed at any time. So I 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:12.880 would not expect him to stand up to the president now. 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:15.400 I would not expect him to say no to the president. 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:20.160 I would not expect any scintilla of moderation out of him. 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:24.639 The Justice Department is just a great, big Trump law firm. Now. Obviously, 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:31.560 Pam Bondi looked like a complete Trump acolyte coming in, 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.639 and she served as Attorney General in exactly that way. 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:41.240 She was fired basically for doing something that she had 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:45.159 promised to do with Trump's blessing that blew up in 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.879 his face. Concerning the Epstein files, I think that Todd 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:54.320 Blanche has seen how even complete loyalty like hers was 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:56.640 not good enough to save her job. So he's not 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.200 going to be under any illusions that he can show 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:03.040 any independence at all and keep his job. And he 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:05.159 has made very clear he is not the sort of 0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:09.560 person who will resign on principle, because just about any 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:14.240 principle that is relevant to serving as Attorney General he's 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:17.159 been asked to violate already. The only thing that may 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:19.120 keep him in his job is that he's a man, 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:21.520 and Trump seems to be more inclined to file women. 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:25.600 I believe you're right there. So far, Trump has only 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:30.240 fired women from his cabinet. There was Attorney General Pam Bondi, 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:36.560 DHS Secretary Christy Nome, and the Director of National Intelligence 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:40.239 Chelsea Gabbard. Those are the only three I can think of. 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.680 Back to Blench, he could have stayed in the job 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:47.920 as acting Attorney General the same power, So is there 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:52.120 any real difference in him being confirmed as Attorney General. 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:56.879 I think there's a lot of difference in prestige. It 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.520 makes it all so much easier to bring someone of 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:04.679 some or temperament in as deputy Attorney General his current 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:09.000 soon to be former job, and he does then get 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:13.879 the blessing of the United States Senate for everything he's done, 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.200 and he will very reasonably be able to say, when 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.040 he's criticized for new things, he does, you saw me 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:25.000 do similar things and confirm to me, so don't go 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:30.119 pointing fingers. When he revives the Weaponization Fund or raids 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:36.240 the Judgment Fund for other Trump personal expenditures, he will say, 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:38.359 I never promised I wouldn't do it in the future. 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.679 I just said that that particular thing had not gone forward, 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:45.640 which it happened. The Senators are leaving themselves wide open 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:50.400 to his doing exactly what he wants to do and 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:54.159 blaming their lack of thoroughness for it, and apparently they 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:54.560 don't care. 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:57.360 Can you think of another Attorney general in history who 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:01.480 was as willing to do the president's big as Blanche 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:05.480 appears to be, and you know BONDI was before him. 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:08.119 Well, the only name that comes to mind, of course, 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:13.600 is John Mitchell. Nixon's attorney general and Nixon's attorney general, 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:16.240 was a frequent visitor to the White House, but he 0:21:16.400 --> 0:21:17.760 ended up in the Big House. 0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:23.439 Yep. Mitchell was convicted of conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of 0:21:23.760 --> 0:21:27.280 justice for his role in the Watergate scandal and the 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:30.720 cover up. And by the way, David, to your earlier point, 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:34.359 now you have another woman whose job maybe in jeopardy, 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:39.800 and that's the DCUs attorney Janine Piro. Trump is very 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:45.879 unhappy that she dismissed the charges against former Olympic rower 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:50.439 David Hearn, charges of vandalizing the reflecting pool. 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:53.640 Indeed, I mean the news reports today or that her 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:56.840 job seems to be safe, but we read that about 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:01.080 Christine Home and Pam Bondy and others, so it's a 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:04.880 little hard to tell. But the problem with her position 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:08.640 is that if what she's saying is true, then their 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:13.639 corrupt no bid contract to get the reflecting pool done 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:17.320 by a contractor with no experience doing this kind of 0:22:17.400 --> 0:22:22.359 work looks like a payoff to a political donor, which 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:23.520 is surely what it is. 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:26.320 It's always great to talk to you, David, thanks so much. 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:31.119 That's Professor David super of Georgetown Law coming up. Next, 0:22:31.680 --> 0:22:36.480 a US Army soldier charged with making winning polymarket predictions 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:40.760 based on classified information about the raid to capture then 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:46.280 Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, says the alleged bets aren't a crime, 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:48.879 and he's asking a judge to throw out the case. 0:22:49.280 --> 0:22:54.160 I'm June Grosso, and you're listening to Bloomberg. A US 0:22:54.320 --> 0:22:59.479 Army soldier charged with making winning polymarket predictions based on 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:04.000 class fight information about the raid to capture then Venezuelan 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:08.360 president Nicolas Maduro, is asking a judge to throw out 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:12.840 the case. Lawyers for gannon Ken Vandyke, a Special Forces 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:16.679 soldier who prosecutors said was involved in the planning and 0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:21.840 execution of the raid, called the prosecution over zealous and 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:25.240 said the alleged bets are in a crime. Van Dyke 0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:28.560 faces a maximum of twenty years behind bars on the 0:23:28.600 --> 0:23:32.800 most serious charge, wire fraud. Joining me is Columbia Law 0:23:32.800 --> 0:23:37.600 School professor Eric Tally, an expert in business law. Eric, 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:41.280 will you explain what he did what he's charged with doing? 0:23:41.960 --> 0:23:47.440 Yeah, Mister van Dyke was charged with illegally making a 0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:51.639 prediction market bet on poly market having to do with 0:23:51.920 --> 0:23:56.680 whether Nicholas Maduro was going to continue being the president 0:23:57.160 --> 0:24:00.439 of Venezuela or continue to be in power. Mister van 0:24:00.520 --> 0:24:04.520 Dyke knew about the plans for the operation to go 0:24:04.560 --> 0:24:10.000 into Venezuela and capture Maduro, and based on that information, 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:13.399 he ended up opening up a poly market account and 0:24:13.480 --> 0:24:17.320 making several bets in favor of Madureau no longer being 0:24:17.359 --> 0:24:20.160 in power, and made a fair amount of money off 0:24:20.200 --> 0:24:23.000 of that process. And that's what gave rise to the 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:25.560 charges that are being brought now against him. 0:24:25.880 --> 0:24:29.800 So they're saying he used classified information. Exactly what does 0:24:29.840 --> 0:24:30.480 he charged with? 0:24:30.960 --> 0:24:34.240 Yeah, this kind of looks almost like a securities fraud 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:37.520 insider trading type of case, but he was not buying 0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:40.280 and selling stocks or bonds or the things that we 0:24:40.440 --> 0:24:44.919 usually think of as being securities. He was purchasing this 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:49.280 event driven contract, which is effectively a bet. And so 0:24:49.320 --> 0:24:53.720 as a result, standard insider trading approaches don't work as well. 0:24:53.720 --> 0:24:57.720 But what does is just another section of federal law 0:24:57.800 --> 0:25:01.959 called the Commodities Exchange Act. And there there is a 0:25:02.320 --> 0:25:04.760 kind of an interesting debate that's going to be going 0:25:04.800 --> 0:25:09.360 on in court as to whether event driven contracts prediction 0:25:09.480 --> 0:25:14.040 market contracts fall under the Commodities Exchange Act, and particularly 0:25:14.080 --> 0:25:18.240 a specific definition of a contract that the Exchange Act 0:25:18.440 --> 0:25:22.520 has involving something known as a swap. Now that sounds 0:25:22.600 --> 0:25:24.919 kind of like very Wall Street speak, but what it 0:25:24.960 --> 0:25:27.639 really is is just a contract agreeing that you and 0:25:27.720 --> 0:25:31.760 I are going to swap piles of money under some circumstances. 0:25:31.800 --> 0:25:35.280 And so this can be any contract in which the 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:37.440 decision of whether I pay you or you pay me 0:25:38.040 --> 0:25:40.919 is dependent on the occurrence or the non occurrence of 0:25:41.000 --> 0:25:45.320 some event that has economic, financial, or commercial consequences. That's 0:25:45.320 --> 0:25:49.760 effectively the definition. And to the extent that that definition 0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:52.680 fits event driven contracts, and there's been at least one 0:25:52.800 --> 0:25:56.520 case that holds that they do, then these types of 0:25:56.560 --> 0:26:01.080 contracts would fall under federal law. If that's what happens, 0:26:01.160 --> 0:26:04.680 then mister Van Dyke's chances look pretty grim. There are 0:26:04.920 --> 0:26:09.680 direct statutes in the US federal law that prohibit informed 0:26:09.800 --> 0:26:15.680 trading related to government informations done done by federal employees, officers, 0:26:15.840 --> 0:26:19.360 members of the armed forces, and so forth. They generally 0:26:19.440 --> 0:26:25.280