'Tip of iceberg': Attorney’s 'sleight-of-hand' unmasks alarming DOJ upheaval

On Monday, August 10, Todd Blanche went from being acting U.S. attorney general to taking over the position permanently when he was sworn in by Judge Emil Bove, a Donald Trump loyalist. The former personal lawyer for Trump had been confirmed by U.S. Senate Republicans in a 50-49 vote that didn't include a single Democratic vote — not even Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), who has shown a willingness to cross party lines and vote with Republicans at times. Blanche has been permanent AG less than a week, but according to journalist Chris Geidner, there are already troubling signs about what is in store for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under Blanche's leadership.

"There has been lots of talk, in recent months, including from federal judges, about the ways in which the Department of Justice has lost the 'presumption of regularity' that is generally afforded to government lawyers," Geidner explains in his Law Dork blog. "This week has raised a more alarming question: What happens — and how do you deal with matters — if the reality shifts even further, toward a presumption of irregularity?.... It’s a new DOJ, and the first signs are no good."

Geidner lays out a variety of reasons why he is worried about DOJ in the Blanche era.

"(On Monday), the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion concluding that a president could claim executive privilege over communications with private citizens outside of the government," Geidner warns in Law Dork. "Specifically, Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser concluded that, 'as a general matter, executive privilege can apply to presidential communications with private advisers so long as the communications: (1) relate to official presidential decision-making, (2) involve or reflect communications with the President or his direct advisers, and (3) are confidential'…. With that sleight-of-hand, Gaiser was able to conflate any historical discussion of federal officials, state officials, and private officials as being part of the same legal matter. The implications are a feature, not a bug, for Gaiser…. That's not all."

Attorney Kevin Riach is sounding the alarm about what Blanche has in store for DOJ — and believes that what we're seeing so far is merely the "tip of the iceberg."

Geidner explains, "On Wednesday night, a senior DOJ political appointee filed a brief supporting Trump's motion to block the sanctions order U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued in July relating to the Trump v. IRS litigation and attempted 'settlement' of the case to create the 'Anti-Weaponization' slush fund…. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan made clear that contempt was on the table in (former MS NOW host) Katie Phang's lawsuit over DOJ’s non-compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act."