Are Republicans really ready for another news cycle that heavily features the phrase \u201cTrump slush fund\u201d?<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t worry! That\u2019s not McCotter\u2019s only baggage! After being elevated to Principal Associate DAG in April, McCotter intervened to dismiss DOJ\u2019s blockbuster fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani<\/a> \u2014 charges that had been built over years by career prosecutors. A federal judge approved the dismissal on August 11 while taking the unusual step of criticizing McCotter\u2019s justification directly, finding it contained a \u201cbaseless assertion\u201d that was \u201cunbecoming of his office.\u201d That is not a great line to have in your file when you\u2019re auditioning for the number two job at the DOJ.<\/p>\n All this is messy AF headed into a contentious election season, and some are questioning if it\u2019s worth it. Other contenders for the role include Colin McDonald, who runs the newly created DOJ fraud division and has a closer relationship with Blanche; Harmeet Dhillon, who has had an interesting record at the Civil Rights division<\/a>, is actively lobbying for the nomination but is considered nonviable by DOJ leadership; Stanley Woodward who, you may recall, filed a wildly inappropriate response to Judge Brinkema<\/a> claiming she was violating separation of powers by asking for a sworn declaration, but who isn\u2019t inclined to leave his current role; and Bill Essayli, the Los Angeles First Assistant U.S. Attorney<\/a>, who has fans in the White House but a \u201cpolarizing\u201d and \u201cpartisan\u201d record that could complicate confirmation. <\/p>\n But finding a qualified and confirmable DAG that actually wants to serve in this administration is not the easiest thing. Blanche only got confirmed by the slimmest of margins, but he\u2019s arguably the closest thing the administration could find to someone who fit the traditional profile while also being in Trump\u2019s inner circle. Finding his replacement is going to be harder.<\/p>\n Earlier:<\/strong> The Senate Confirmed Todd Blanche At 4am. Nothing Good Happens After Midnight.<\/a> Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post The Anti-Weaponization Fund Is Supposed To Be Gone. One Of Its Architects Wants To Be The Next Deputy Attorney General.<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Todd Blanche has been Attorney General for two weeks and already the DOJ\u2019s next confirmation battle is taking shape\u2026 and it has a very familiar problem at its center.<\/p>\n Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter is reportedly the frontrunner for Blanche\u2019s old job, according to Bloomberg Law<\/a>, with strong backing from some in the White House and the support of Trump gadfly Boris Epshteyn. There\u2019s just one catch: McCotter was one of the principal architects of the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund<\/a>. You know, the slush fund that caused Sens. Cornyn and Tillis to drag their feet<\/a> on getting Blanche\u2019s nom out of committee? Recall a federal judge found the slush fund was \u201cakin to a fraud on the court,\u201d<\/a> and that Blanche had to formally rescind <\/a>in writing (not that it\u2019s worth more than the paper it is written on) just to get the AG role<\/a>.<\/p>\n Are Republicans really ready for another news cycle that heavily features the phrase \u201cTrump slush fund\u201d?<\/p>\n But don\u2019t worry! That\u2019s not McCotter\u2019s only baggage! After being elevated to Principal Associate DAG in April, McCotter intervened to dismiss DOJ\u2019s blockbuster fraud charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani<\/a> \u2014 charges that had been built over years by career prosecutors. A federal judge approved the dismissal on August 11 while taking the unusual step of criticizing McCotter\u2019s justification directly, finding it contained a \u201cbaseless assertion\u201d that was \u201cunbecoming of his office.\u201d That is not a great line to have in your file when you\u2019re auditioning for the number two job at the DOJ.<\/p>\n All this is messy AF headed into a contentious election season, and some are questioning if it\u2019s worth it. Other contenders for the role include Colin McDonald, who runs the newly created DOJ fraud division and has a closer relationship with Blanche; Harmeet Dhillon, who has had an interesting record at the Civil Rights division<\/a>, is actively lobbying for the nomination but is considered nonviable by DOJ leadership; Stanley Woodward who, you may recall, filed a wildly inappropriate response to Judge Brinkema<\/a> claiming she was violating separation of powers by asking for a sworn declaration, but who isn\u2019t inclined to leave his current role; and Bill Essayli, the Los Angeles First Assistant U.S. Attorney<\/a>, who has fans in the White House but a \u201cpolarizing\u201d and \u201cpartisan\u201d record that could complicate confirmation. <\/p>\n But finding a qualified and confirmable DAG that actually wants to serve in this administration is not the easiest thing. Blanche only got confirmed by the slimmest of margins, but he\u2019s arguably the closest thing the administration could find to someone who fit the traditional profile while also being in Trump\u2019s inner circle. Finding his replacement is going to be harder.<\/p>\n Earlier:<\/strong> The Senate Confirmed Todd Blanche At 4am. Nothing Good Happens After Midnight.<\/a> Todd Blanche has been Attorney General for two weeks and already the DOJ\u2019s next confirmation battle is taking shape\u2026 and it has a very familiar problem at its center. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter is reportedly the frontrunner for Blanche\u2019s old job, according to Bloomberg Law, with strong backing from some in the White […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":161088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-otnpRa.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Todd Blanche Threading The Narrowest Of Needles For Confirmation<\/a>
Todd Blanche Loses Susan Collins\u2019s Vote. Blame His Secret Promises To Anti-Abortion Groups.<\/a>
Todd Blanche Will Probably Be Confirmed Even Though Some Republican Senators Are Performatively On The Fence<\/a>
The Trump Slush Fund Is Dead. Long Live The Trump Slush Fund.<\/a>
Blanche Pantsed By Trump Rants<\/a>
Trump: I\u2019ll Pull Blanche\u2019s Nomination And Resubmit After Cornyn And Tillis Are Gone. Cornyn: Cool, Roll The Dice.<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Vote Gets Postponed Because He Just Won\u2019t Put His Promises In Writing<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Is Being Held Up By Todd Blanche<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Strategy: Call Two Senate Judiciary Committee Members Liars<\/a>
A Blanche Confirmation Hearing Witness Is Getting Death Threats. Thanks, Sens. Hawley And Schmitt!<\/a>
Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump\u2019s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Former SDNY Colleagues Vouched For Him Last Year. They Won\u2019t Make That Mistake Again.<\/a>
Well, This Doesn\u2019t Help Todd Blanche<\/a>
Former DOJ Prosecutors To Senate: Blanche Took The Same Oath We Did. But He Didn\u2019t Keep It.<\/a>
DOJ Tries To End Slush Fund Suit By Telling Judge Brinkema To Get Bent. Fails.<\/a>
The DOJ\u2019s $1.8 Billion Slush Fund Has A Child Molester Problem<\/a>
Todd Blanche Got The Attorney General Nomination. Getting Confirmed Is Another Matter.<\/a>
Todd Blanche Is Your New Attorney General. Probably.<\/a><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/Acting_DAG_Trent_McCotter_Official_Portrait-240x300.png?resize=240%2C300&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Todd Blanche Threading The Narrowest Of Needles For Confirmation<\/a>
Todd Blanche Loses Susan Collins\u2019s Vote. Blame His Secret Promises To Anti-Abortion Groups.<\/a>
Todd Blanche Will Probably Be Confirmed Even Though Some Republican Senators Are Performatively On The Fence<\/a>
The Trump Slush Fund Is Dead. Long Live The Trump Slush Fund.<\/a>
Blanche Pantsed By Trump Rants<\/a>
Trump: I\u2019ll Pull Blanche\u2019s Nomination And Resubmit After Cornyn And Tillis Are Gone. Cornyn: Cool, Roll The Dice.<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Vote Gets Postponed Because He Just Won\u2019t Put His Promises In Writing<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Is Being Held Up By Todd Blanche<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Strategy: Call Two Senate Judiciary Committee Members Liars<\/a>
A Blanche Confirmation Hearing Witness Is Getting Death Threats. Thanks, Sens. Hawley And Schmitt!<\/a>
Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump\u2019s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Former SDNY Colleagues Vouched For Him Last Year. They Won\u2019t Make That Mistake Again.<\/a>
Well, This Doesn\u2019t Help Todd Blanche<\/a>
Former DOJ Prosecutors To Senate: Blanche Took The Same Oath We Did. But He Didn\u2019t Keep It.<\/a>
DOJ Tries To End Slush Fund Suit By Telling Judge Brinkema To Get Bent. Fails.<\/a>
The DOJ\u2019s $1.8 Billion Slush Fund Has A Child Molester Problem<\/a>
Todd Blanche Got The Attorney General Nomination. Getting Confirmed Is Another Matter.<\/a>
Todd Blanche Is Your New Attorney General. Probably.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"