In short
The episode argues that Trump’s allies are undermining the rule of law and that DOJ and federal oversight are being politicized. It focuses on Todd Blanche’s swearing-in as attorney general, claiming he’s unqualified and loyal to Trump; the host alleges Blanche met with Ghislaine Maxwell and helped move her to a “cream puff” prison, and that he fired an ethics advisor after recusal concerns. Key claims include the “anti-weaponization fund” rescission being “worthless” and used for gaslighting, and Trump’s shifting Supreme Court messaging about Samuel Alito. It also covers a D.C. Circuit ruling blocking Trump’s White House ballroom without congressional approval, and appointments undermining watchdog independence (Dennis Kirk).
Notable examples
Fox News voting-machine settlement; Trump’s BBC defamation suit dropping a claim; Project 2025-linked Interior IG leadership; harassment litigation involving Olympian David Hearn and Jeanine Pirro.
Guests
Josh Welch (criminal defense attorney).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOIntroduction of Todd Blanche
0:00 to 2:02
Discussion about Todd Blanche's appointment and the implications of his actions.
“Okay, Todd Blanche, a man who met with Ghislaine Maxwell and then apparently made some promises to her and then moved her to a cream puff prison has been sworn in as the attorney general.”
Trump's Anti-Weaponization Fund Controversy
2:02 to 4:00
Analysis of Trump's proposed anti-weaponization fund and its implications.
“President, the anti-weaponization fund, do you think it's still alive at this point?”
Supreme Court and Todd Blanche's Ethics
4:00 to 7:20
Discussing Todd Blanche's ethics and the implications of political nominations.
“You're just getting back what never should have been asked for.”
Trump's Reflections on Politics
7:20 to 11:29
Discussion on Trump's recent statements and their political motivations.
“the voting machines regarding the 2020 election.”
Trump's Legal Battles and Appointments
11:42 to 14:02
An overview of Trump's defamation lawsuit and his recent political appointments.
“He has a defamation lawsuit against the BBC.”
Legal Challenges Against Trump and the Reflecting Pool Case
14:02 to 16:50
The discussion centers on the legal implications of pursuing claims against Trump and the fallout from his actions regarding the reflecting pool incident.
“That's the bullshit part of reading Washington Post and The New York Times and other other newspapers that do that day to day.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:04Okay, Todd Blanche, a man who met with Ghislaine Maxwell and then apparently made some promises to her and then moved her to a cream puff prison has been sworn in as the attorney general. And he has staged a photo op for his arrival at the DOJ. Play the clip.
0:27Here he is walking into the DOJ with all of these law and order people clapping for this criminal attorney general, Josh. Welch is here today while Pumps is on vacation to discuss this. Josh. I first think of the disconnect that's associated with these people that work for the Department of Justice that are, like you mentioned, are law and order individuals. And the disconnect they have when they see him and they applaud his entry, whether it was staged or not, just the theatrics, the dishonesty associated with that, the hypocrisy associated with that. And I try to understand it, but I think that these people that live in Washington live in this fantasy land.
1:17Like they're not seeing what the rest of the country is seeing as it relates to Todd Blanch. He's the most corrupt, unqualified candidate for attorney general that we've ever had. And he's admitted to a certain extent that his loyalties lie with President Trump. He's not law and order. He fired his ethics advisor any time that they tried to tell him he had to recuse from a case that Donald Trump was a part of. It's jaw-dropping. And I say that word jaw-dropping a lot on this show. But all the things that I see about his conduct, about them parading him to the Department of Justice, him being applauded and grandstanded like this hero's welcome back home, it's disgusting.
1:58It's absolutely disgusting. All right. And Trump asked if slush fund is still alive. Let's play the clip. Yeah. Mr. President, the anti-weaponization fund, do you think it's still alive at this point? And are there any options that you're looking at to perhaps... Well, then we have to Todd Blanch. He was a new and who will be, I think, a great attorney general. Yeah, please. Thank you. Okay. Josh, how insane, insane is it? you are a criminal defense attorney, that there is an anti-weaponization fund where the federal government, at the request of our demented, pathologically lying senior citizen president, wants to pay the people who literally broke into the Capitol, wanted to hang Mike Pence and took a shit, literal shits, pulled their pants down and took a shit in the Capitol and Trump and Todd Blanche want to give them money.
3:01There's many layers to this, but this is batshit crazy. But there are several layers to this. Number one, Todd Blanche, so-called rescission of the anti-weaponization fund is worthless. It's not worth the paper that it's written on. And that's what he issued to convince Senators Cornyn and tell us that they should move his nomination forward out of judiciary. And it means nothing. And all the legal pundits and experts know that it means nothing. But here's the trick. This is what the Trump administration does, is they ask for something so outlandish, so crazy. And this is a great mechanism for gaslighting.
3:42When you ask for something so absurd and then you pull it back, it makes you think that you're giving them something. It makes you think that they're getting something out of it. And that's what he's done here. He's asked for this absurd fund that everybody just went, what the fuck are you talking about? But then when he pulls it back, you act like you're winning this battle, this mountain. And in fact, you're not. You're just getting back what never should have been asked for. And on top of that, there's millions of reasons why he's unethical and unqualified to be attorney general. Yes. And that provided Dr.
4:19Cassidy, Senator Cassidy cover that they make up this bullshit thing. And he's like, OK, I'm reserving my vote for this. And then they take it back. But I agree with you. The fact that any of these senators believe what any of these nominees say, what they believe that any Supreme Court justice says, that they believe them and they take them at their word is such bullshit. It's such performative bullshit. Which brings me to Sam Alito, another pathological liar. And Trump is now responding. There's been all these rumors that Alito is retiring. Right. And like a press breaks it and Alito's like news demean, blah, blah.
5:03Well, I think somebody from inside the Trump circle is leaking this and they're trying to force him out because Trump keeps toying with this idea of nominating Ted Cruz. Nobody likes Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz is the biggest cuck for Donald Trump on the planet. He'll vote for, you know, to rape and pillage all of the country. He can't even stand up for his own wife. Right. He's got no problem bending over at will. Exactly. So here is Donald Trump trying to provide cover on Truth Social. Pop this up. Great news for our country. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has announced that he is staying on for another term.
5:40He is one of the greatest of all time. We are lucky. There's so many things wrong with this. But number one, there is not another term for which he can sign up to stay on to. But apparently, you know, clearly somebody from Alito's office called Trump's office and said, fucking stop leaking this shit. He's not resigning. That's my take on it. What's your take on it? No, I think that's 100 % right. And then, of course, with Trump, all of this is subject to change on the dime. If you see that he's about to get, you know, defeated or if something, you know, if they lose the House and the Senate or who knows what could happen, but he will reverse course on this fucking thing.
6:20Like, like, I mean, just look at the Iran war. I mean, just look at anything that he does. It's like he's schizophrenic, like bipolar. So I agree with you. I don't think that was earnest. I think that was sort of him responding to Alito and just kind of giving him this. And then he's just going to wait and see. But make no mistake that if he wants a fourth nominee on the court, like he will dump Alito in a heartbeat. Oh, 100 percent he would. Okay. And so you say this all the time when we are talking about politics, when we're not on camera. You've always said these blowhards can go out and say whatever they want to in television interviews.
6:59They can say whatever they want to in front of cameras. But when you walk in front of a judge in a courtroom, it's a completely different story. Look no further than the fact that Fox News, the pathologically lying propaganda news channel that services senior citizens in this country, had to pay a billion dollars for lying over the voting machines regarding the 2020 election. Well, Trump and all of the sycophants, all of the trad wives. And when I say trad wives, I'm talking about the MAGA men that service him. They have been going on and on about this ballroom. Well, guess what happened? Pop this up.
7:38Midas Tetris reporting a federal appeals court has ruled that Trump's proposed White House ballroom cannot be built without congressional approval, affirming an injunction blocking construction. The D.C. Circuit said Congress has not given the executive branch authority to dramatically redesign, reshape and reconstruct the White House, the People's House to fit a particular president's desires. The ruling has stayed for 14 days to allow an appeal to surprise, surprise, the Supreme Court, where he just sent the congratulations, Alito, on your new term. That's right. And I think we've discussed, you know, the district courts and the appellate courts in large part have maintained the rule of law, but it's the Supreme Court element.
8:25It's this element where this thing will work its way up there. And then what will they do with it? I have a little bit different take on this ballroom thing and this reflecting pool thing. like these controversies, these are not issues that help day-to-day Americans that are struggling in this economy. When you look up and you're reading all this stuff about a reflecting pool or him wanting to make these big changes to the White House or these monuments or whatever it is he's doing, I would dare to say that these things don't resonate in the middle of America where people can't afford to put gas in their car.
9:00They can't afford to pay their rent. They can't afford to buy groceries because of the state of this economy with this Republican president and this Republican Senate in Congress. I completely agree. I just said yesterday in an episode, these are distractions. Who gives a shit about how much gold he puts in the Oval? Yeah, it's a juicy nugget on an IHIP News episode. His delusions and pathological lying about the reflecting pool. None of these things in the overall scheme of things have any impact and can be easily reversed easily. Anything he bulldozes, we can easily fix the stuff that he's doing by putting a criminal liar into the attorney general position.
9:42These are the things that are breaking the country. Yeah. And it will like Todd Blanche is by far the worst person we could have in that office who has discretion to prosecute and investigate people at will and has shown a propensity to do exactly what the president tells him to do. That's dangerous. All right, women, shaving has always been a nightmare. I mean, you rarely get like a perfect shave. I'm always cutting myself in groans, irritation, horrible razors. And that's why I have made a switch to a fabulous razor made for women by women, and it's called Flamingo. I am surprised each time I shave by how smooth and gentle the shave is.
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11:20This set includes the Flamingo Original Razor, one five-blade cartridge, a one-ounce foaming shave gel, and a shower holder. Just head to shopflamingo.com slash ihip to claim this offer, and after you purchase, they're going to ask how you heard about them. Please support our show and let them know that we sent you. And here we have Trump. He has a defamation lawsuit against the BBC. And here's a little update on that. Pop this up. Trump drops key claim in$10 billion defamation suit against BBC to avoid giving up financial records. And the Tennessee holler says, funny how that works. And this is what you always say, darling.
12:05You always say they can say all this shit all day long and lie and lie and lie and lie. But once you get in front of a judge in a courtroom, you cannot lie any longer. That's right. And it's like they play two games. They play the PR game, which is where they spin and lie. And then they have to play the court game. In the court game, you can't spin and lie. And I think we're going to see that in the reflecting pull issue that comes up, I think, with Ms. Pirro and her responsibility and how Trump is so pissed at her that she won't go peddle his lies to a judge in the D.C. circuit. Well, speaking of that, Trump has appointed a Project 2025 member to oversee a review of the reflecting pool.
12:52As you can see, with all of the issues hitting his approval rating right now, he is laser focused and has obviously put in somebody incredibly qualified, some dipshit over at Project 2025, some handmade tail rag. All right, pop this up. Washington Post, Donald Trump nominated Project 2025 author and former political appointee Dennis Kirk to lead the Interior Department's Inspector General Office, raising concerns about the independence of the watchdog. Washington Post, it's not just raising concerns about the independence of the watchdog. He just said there will be no watchdog. I'm eliminating the watchdog and putting in some Christian nationalist nut who will do whatever I want him to do.
13:37That's 100 % right. So any hope that there's any neutral investigation or objective investigation into the ethics of the Department of Interior in these projects, you can completely forget with disappointment. That's what the article should say, though. That's exactly what it should say. Yeah, that's the framing of how they normalize these things as if this is just some political appointment. That's the bullshit part of reading Washington Post and The New York Times and other other newspapers that do that day to day. OK. And then, as you know, an Olympian was charged in reflecting pool case. And this is where he got in a big fight with Jeanine Pirro.
14:18He is fighting back. Pop this up. David Hearn's lawyers exploring legal remedies over Trump's continued harassment. And so we see Norm Eisman there, and he's always at the forefront fighting this. Josh, what would you do if you were defending this Olympian and break this down for the audience? Well, you have to first look at what you can do against a sitting president. And we've seen that in Trump versus the United States, how they've given him so much immunity. And so I honestly, I don't know if it would be worth pursuing a claim against him right now while he's in office. I don't. He's got a very well-respected lawyer that can help him make those judgments.
15:07But but the thought that he's going to get any kind of meaningful recovery, I think, is somewhat limited. And I'm just being honest, just being realistic about what his options are at this point. You know, this story to me is is characteristic of Trump and his control or attempted control over his Department of Justice with Jeanine Pirro. And this is, you know, a classic situation where you mentioned earlier that that he wanted something done one way. And he said all these things, all these lies about the reflecting pool and vandalism. And this Mr. Hearn caught the brunt of that. But and then Janine Pirro gets involved in it and investigates it and realizes that none of the things that Donald Trump said were true and that she can't prove any of these things in a court of law in front of a judge.
15:53And so she has to dismiss these cases. And so and then you remember last week that Trump summoned her to the White House and they had a meeting at the White House. And I'm sure he was like, Janine, what are you doing? And I'm sure she was like, President Trump, there's no proof. I can't just go in front of a court and say this shit. And I'm sure he's like, well, why can't you? You know, I'm sure it went like that. But and that's dangerous. Aside from all this stuff, this gentleman that you talk about, Mr. David Hearn, I think is his name. He's been run through the ringer through this. And I'm sure that the MAGA conglomerate has jumped all over him and upended his day to day life and with whatever he's doing.
16:39And so it's a really sad situation. Legally, I wouldn't be too optimistic that he can get any kind of meaningful recovery, at least now. But he's got very skilled lawyers that can help him with those decisions. Amy Quinton, Ph.D.: Josh, thank you so much for joining us. Make sure, listener, you buy my book. It's linked right below in the show notes. Pre-order it. October will be here before you know it. And we'll be back later with more news.
17:09No rules.
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