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National News
Red flags fly as ‘very suspicious’ move from Todd Blanche has confirmation in doubt
CNN analyst Andrew McCabe on Tuesday pointed out that the Department of Justice never responded to President Donald Trump's IRS lawsuit — and how that could impact Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination.
The former deputy director of the FBI told CNN anchor Kasie Hunt that, as Blanche's nomination remains in limbo ahead of Thursday's vote, further questions about Trump's former personal attorney have come to light.
"Let's remember, there essentially was never really a true lawsuit here," McCabe said. "The president sued the IRS for $10 billion. The Department of Justice never even answered the complaint. So, there were never two opposing parties. The Justice Department never stood up and defended the United States in the way that it did in every other suit brought by the same leak from the same person."
This was unusual, McCabe explained.
"And because of that oddity, that's a very suspicious decision on the part of people like Todd Blanche and others," he said. "The lack of a true controversy meant that the entire thing was about to get dismissed. Before that could happen, they entered into these agreements. One of them, of course, created the weaponization fund, and the second one essentially granted complete immunity forever to Donald Trump, his family members and businesses."
McCabe described the situation further.
"It was basically a giveaway from the Department of Justice to the president," McCabe said. "How this thing stands or was ever conceived — I have no idea. I've been around many, many settlements of criminal matters, some of which involved IRS criminal matters, and have never seen any language like this. I think it's absolutely unprecedented and an incredibly bad idea."
The IRS settlement became a sticking point for some Republican senators during Blanche's confirmation hearing. On Tuesday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said there is no deal on Blanche's confirmation because of the settlement and the so-called anti-weaponization fund, Politico reported.
National News
‘The guy has no shame’: RFK Jr.’s ‘fanatic’ tirade on CNN floors analyst
A political analyst was floored after one of President Donald Trump's cabinet secretaries erupted during a CNN interview.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. went on a tirade on Sunday's "State of the Union" with host Dana Bash, one that devolved into Kennedy shouting at Bash about issues ranging from the COVID-19 vaccine to autism. Will Saletan, a writer at The Bulwark, argued during a new podcast episode on Monday that Kennedy's tirade was indicative of the fact that he's a 'fanatic' rather than a scientist.
"The guy has no shame," Saletan said.
He pointed to one moment in particular where Kennedy claimed that COVID-19 was manufactured to impact Caucasians and Black people more so than other races. He also mentioned Kennedy's blatant untruths about how former CDC Director Anthony Fauci managed the pandemic.
"The problem with Kennedy is he doesn't think like a scientist. He's a fanatic," Saletan said.
