Arizona Attorney General Plans To Re-Up Lawfare Against Trump Allies
The ruling was released Thursday
Trump names his pick for attorney general — but Democrats vow to thwart confirmation
President Donald Trump ousted Pam Bondi from the attorney general role on April 2, then announced that "very talented and respected Legal Mind" Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney, would be stepping in to serve as acting attorney general.
In the months since, several names have been floated as possible long-term picks for the position, including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas.
The president announced his choice of nominee at a private White House Rose Garden dinner on Wednesday: acting AG Blanche.
In a video shared to social media by deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, Trump said, "Tomorrow I’m instructing Dan and everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process, which is gonna go, I think, very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent attorney general."
Democrats wasted no time condemning Trump's choice of candidate and vowing to block Blanche's confirmation.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told CNN's Laura Coates on Wednesday evening that Blanche doesn't have enough votes in the Senate to be confirmed, then characterized the acting AG as inexperienced.
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"This is a man that has been involved in investigating the chairman of the Fed, investigating former people that the president has perceived as his enemies. And they're weaponizing that agency. They've even gone after United States senators," said Booker.
"His only qualification, which seems to be all that President Trump wants from people, is that they are willing to do his bidding and they will act like his own personal attorneys, which he was, and not like somebody upholding the highest law enforcement office in the land," continued Booker.
So far under the leadership of acting AG Blanche, the Justice Department has made progress on several fronts, securing, for instance, indictments against disgraced former FBI Director James Comey, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and former Cuban President Raul Castro; creating the National Fraud Enforcement Division; and addressing the fallout of the Biden administration's government weaponization efforts.
After Coates pointed out that Blanche "does have legal experience, obviously" — noting that he has been a prosecutor, has worked in a law firm, and has already been tested as acting AG — Booker insinuated that some of his Republican colleagues are similarly uncertain about Trump's pick, adding, "This is not a serious person."
Having ironed out his talking points on CNN, Booker later said more of the same on MS NOW.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) melted down over the announcement, stating, "Corrupt & compromised by feckless Trump fealty, Blanche is a nonstarter as AG."
"There's no way we should confirm an AG who will continue as Trump's personal lawyer, not the people's," added Blumenthal.
While Democrats have cast doubt on whether the Senate will confirm Blanche, it confirmed him as deputy attorney general last year in 52-46 vote.
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MAGA's Middleton handily defeats Chip Roy in Texas AG race
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton enjoyed more than one victory on Tuesday night.
In addition to defeating incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP Senate primary runoff election by over 380,000 votes, Paxton saw his endorsee, Texas state Sen. Mayes Middleton, win the Texas attorney general Republican primary runoff.
With over 97% of the expected votes in, Middleton — a proud supporter of the America First agenda — had secured 55.2% of the vote. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a former deputy to Paxton who who turned coat and pushed for Paxton's resignation, trailed behind by 10.4 percentage points.
'Republican obstructionists have to be done away with.'
Roy noted just before 10 p.m. that he had called Middleton to congratulate him. The victor thanked the fourth-term congressman online, writing, "Looking forward to working with you to keep Texas Red and see you pass the SAVE Act."
Middleton — an oilman, seventh-generation Texan, and father of four who was endorsed by numerous conservative groups including the Texas Family Project, Moms for America Action, and the True Texas Project — pledged in his campaign to "lead the charge to secure our border, protect Texas kids, ensure fairness in girls' and women’s sports, protect Texas taxpayers and consumers, ensure strict election integrity, and root out waste, fraud, and abuse from our government."
RELATED: Trump-endorsed Paxton DEMOLISHES Cornyn in GOP Senate primary runoff
He also said that he would work to eradicate Sharia law in the state and abolish the H-1B visa program.
During the campaign, Roy and some of his backers characterized Middleton as inexperienced. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Middleton's former primary opponent, Aaron Reitz, were among those who countered this framing.
Patrick repeatedly stressed that "Mayes Middleton is one of the most conservative members in Texas Senate history — a proven, unapologetic MAGA conservative who fights and wins," who will "work hand-in-hand with the Governor, the Legislature, the Department of Justice, and President Trump to make the Texas Attorney General’s office the strongest in the nation."
"Some criticize Mayes by saying he lacks the legal experience to lead. But that argument doesn’t hold up," Reitz noted in an op-ed. "For nearly twenty years, Mayes has practiced law as a civil attorney, focusing on oil and gas transactions and litigation, while at the same time serving in state government."
Middleton criticized Roy in turn for previously turning on President Donald Trump, characterizing the lawmaker as a backstabber who "betrayed MAGA."
Roy — who enjoyed the backing of elements of the GOP establishment including Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) — stressed that he is aligned with Trump and has a stellar conservative voting record. However, some evidently have not forgotten that he opposed efforts to challenge the 2020 election results in Congress; accused Trump of "clearly impeachable conduct" after the Jan. 6, 2021, protests; and backed Trump 2024 presidential primary challenger Gov. Ron DeSantis.
After winning the presidential election in 2024, Trump suggested that Texas Republicans should primary Roy, accusing Roy of "getting in the way, as usual," and noting that "Republican obstructionists have to be done away with."
Middleton will now face off with Texas state Sen. Nathan Johnson, a litigator and composer, endorsed by the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus and multiple gun-grab groups, who contributed scores to the anime series "Dragon Ball Z."
Johnson has pledged to lead "the fight against the MAGA machine’s assault on our individual rights, against the looting of our tax dollars, and against federal overreach."
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Obama’s Colbert ‘fake applause’ interview goes off the rails with ‘little green men’ denial
Former President Barack Obama’s latest appearance on Stephen Colbert’s late-night show had it all, from thinly veiled critiques aimed at the current presidency and the Republican Party to alien skepticism.
And BlazeTV host Pat Gray wasn’t impressed, pointing out that the applause throughout the interview sounded “fake.”
“I’ve never seen that in an interview with the president before,” he notes.
In the interview, Obama told Colbert that “the presidential center is nonpartisan” before immediately pivoting to concerns about Republicans and Donald Trump.
“The reason I want to mention that is because I’m worried about the Republican Party, not just the Democratic Party,” Obama told Colbert, while Gray listens and scoffs.
“When I was president, people would ask me, ‘Well, what change would you like to see in Washington?’” Obama told Colbert. “I’d say, ‘I’d love a loyal opposition. I’d love a Republican Party that was conservative in some ways, that didn’t agree with me on a whole bunch of stuff, but believed in rule of law.'”
“We’re going to have to do some work to return to this basic norm, and we probably now have to codify it,” he explained. “The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever.”
“The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer, it’s not the president’s consigliere, right?” Obama asks.
Obama went on to explain that “we can’t overcome the politicization of the criminal justice system” to another round of “fake” applause.
Colbert then asked Obama about aliens, to which Obama replied that for the people “that still think that we’ve got little green men underground somewhere,” there’s no need to speculate because “the government is terrible at keeping secrets.”
“This idea of conspiracy theories, if there were aliens or alien spaceships or anything under the control of the United States government that we knew about, seen, photographs, what have you, I promise you, some guy guarding the installation would have taken a selfie with one of the aliens and sent it to his girlfriend,” he said.
“Do you wish they were real?” Colbert asked Obama.
“I actually do,” he responded.
Executive producer Keith Malinak isn’t buying it, commenting, “Never denied it.”
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Calls For Justice Department ‘Independence’ Are A Sign Of GOP Weakness
The 'cycle of weaponization' will not be broken by one side dropping its weapons while the other reloads.Paxton targets dozens of North Texas businesses after Sara Gonzales sounds alarm on H-1B fraud
Just a few months after BlazeTV's Sara Gonzales began exposing potential H-1B fraud in North Texas, the Office of the Attorney General has come out with a major announcement as a result of her investigations.
On Thursday morning, Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced that he is escalating his ongoing investigation into dozens of businesses in North Texas suspected of H-1B visa fraud.
'I want to thank Sara Gonzales for her efforts in exposing H-1B fraud across the state.'
Paxton announced that he has issued civil investigative demands into nearly 30 businesses as part of the investigation.
Among these companies, according to the press release, are Tekpro IT LLC, Fame PBX LLC, 1st Ranking Technologies LLC, Qubitz Tech Systems LLC, Blooming Clouds LLC, Virat Solutions Inc., Oak Technologies Inc., Techpath Inc., and Techquency LLC.
RELATED: Sara Gonzales confronts owner of alleged H-1B visa & autism center scam — whistleblower tells all
These companies were added to the investigation into suspected fraudulent practices, including the maintenance of "so-called 'ghost offices' as a scheme in which businesses falsely represent active operations in order to sponsor foreign workers."
“I will not allow the H-1B program to be abused by bad actors seeking to use it as a loophole for allowing foreign nationals to invade Texas,” said Paxton. “My office will continue working to uncover and put an end to fraud within the H-1B program.”
Paxton has demanded financial statements, documents identifying all employees working for these companies, records detailing the specific products or services provided, and communications related to company operations, according to the press release.
On X, Paxton gave Gonzales a shoutout for her work: "I'm taking legal action as part of my investigation into nearly 30 North Texas businesses suspected of H-1B visa fraud. I want to thank @SaraGonzalesTX for her efforts in exposing H-1B fraud across the state."
"Thank YOU for taking action!" Gonzales replied.
Gonzales celebrated the announcement on social media: "AMAZING NEWS! Ken Paxton is taking action on my H-1B investigations!"
The host of "Sara Gonzales Unfiltered" reminded her viewers that Qubitz Tech Systems LLC was featured in her first series. She added that she and her team had come across the other companies in the course of their investigation and handed the information over.
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