Just Some Guys Who Can’t Say “No”

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Is the job of a cabinet member to advise a president on the propriety and lawfulness of a policy or course of action, or to be fawning sycophant who does whatever he’s told to do without regard to whether it’s unlawful, dangerous or counterproductive? In another time, the answer would obviously be the former. But during their confirmation hearings, neither Todd Blanche nor Jay Clayton, nominated to be the Director of National Intelligence where the stunningly unqualified Bill Pulte sits in the chair, made clear that their duty is to do as they’re told no matter what.

Given the question, there can be no other answer than no. But then, Blanche was the person who “settled” a specious Trump suit by approving a slush fund for the January 6th insurrectionists. As he openly conceded during questioning, he is Trump’s lawyer and he will do whatever Trump tells him to do.

Like Trump’s nominees before him, including those appointed to the federal bench, Jay Clayton gave the stock answers as to who won the 2020 election by stating that Biden was “certified” by Congress. In this way, they could “admit” that Biden was, in fact, president, without conceding that Biden won the election.

When pushed by some very pointed questioning by Senator Jon Ossoff, it got worse.

It’s entirely understandable why both Blanche and Clayton answered as they did. Anything else would have made Trump furious. They may have been nominated already, but there is nothing to stop Trump from pulling their nominations if they fail to toe the line and give the answers they’re told to give.

Unlike other Trump nominees, like Ka$h Patel, Pete Hegseth or RFJ Jr., neither Blanche nor Clayton are stupid or professionally unqualified. Granted, Clayton lacks the experience required for the position of DNI, as his background in intelligence is severely limited, but at least he has some experience stemming from his time as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Blanche, of course, had been an AUSA in that same office before going to Biglaw, then leaving to be Trump’s personal lawyer.

While most confirmation hearings are pure circus these days, their hearings actually provided some insight as to how they would serve in their respective positions. The insight, pathetically, showed that they lack the courage to disagree with Trump, to fulfill the role of adviser and subject matter expert, by telling the president when he’s wrong.

In Blanche’s case, it was even worse, in that he told Senator Cory Booker during the Senate Judiciary Committee that he’s not legally permitted to meet with the Epstein survivors, a blatantly false claim. But Clayton wasn’t far behind, saying that he supported the January 6th slush fund.

As Trump has regurgitated many times over, he knows more about everything than anyone. No need to surround himself with people who are smarter than him, because no one is smarter than him. No need to nominate subject matter experts to advise him on the merits or legality of an idea that pops into his head as he’s sitting in one of his ubiquitous oval officer pressers, as there can be no one more expert than him. In their place,

Trump wants only those people who are so unquestionably loyal to him that their only answer is “Yessir, you are right and the bestest president ever!” He’s accomplished that with his nominations of Todd Blanche and Jay Clayton, neither of whom has or will ever have the guts to tell Trump that “no, you can’t just shoot people in the legs for protesting” or that Biden won the election.

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