The words "Todd Blanche" and "fraud on the court" keep showing up in reports about Donald Trump's IRS lawsuit, which a judge called a "sham . . . designed to fleece taxpayers"

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche received a boost this week when a U.S. Senate committee advanced his nomination to serve as permanent AG under President Donald Trump. A member of the committee, however, warned that Blanche faces allegations that could amount to "fraud on the court," possibly leading to disciplinary actions against him.

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reminded his colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee that Blanche's actions infuriated a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida who is considering issues connected to a lawsuit Trump filed over leaks of his tax returns. The Florida case is ongoing, and it could have an impact on public perceptions about the appropriateness of Blanche serving as the nation's top law-enforcement officer. It is unclear how the case in Florida will play out, but the judge in the matter has shown signs of being deeply disturbed about Blanche's actions in the case. That comes through clearly in a brief summation from the Public Citizen, a nonprofit, consumer-rights advocacy group founded by activist Ralph Nader in 1971:

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams has ruled that President Trump’s lawsuit asking for $10 billion from the IRS was manufactured to justify a “settlement” that included a nearly $1.8B slush fund to reward political allies.

Public Citizen also has released a statement about the serious issues involved in the case before Judge Williams, and we will hear more from them in a moment.  But first, let's visit Raw Story, which provides a play-by-play of the controversy under the headline "Troubling Blanche past surfaced by irate senator: 'Worst thing you can accuse someone of.'" Alexander Willis writes:

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) delivered a scathing rebuke of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday, invoking an unprecedented allegation against the nation's top law enforcement official that he argued should derail Blanche's confirmation.

Blanche appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee as lawmakers weighed advancing his nomination to serve as attorney general permanently. Whitehouse argued that confirming Blanche should be a nonstarter, flagging a past accusation leveled at Blanche in court.

“Let's not forget that there is an ongoing proceeding in Florida in federal court with an open question [of] whether Todd Blanche committed a fraud upon the court,” Whitehouse said.

“We don't hear that term 'fraud upon the court' very often – it's probably the worst thing you can accuse someone of in a court proceeding. It means you're an officer of the court, and it means you abused the process of the court, and you did so in order to accomplish an unjust and wrongful result.”

Whitehouse was referring to Trump v. Internal Revenue Service, a case in the Southern District of Florida involving Trump’s lawsuit over his leaked tax returns. A total of 35 former federal judges asked the presiding judge to reopen the case and accused Blanche of committing “fraud on the court.”

“It's actually worse than contempt of court – it is so bad that in the history of the Department of Justice, no senior official has ever been even accused of a fraud upon the court!” Whitehouse railed. “And we're advancing this guy before that question is settled?”

What about the Public Citizen statement regarding the Florida case before Judge Williams? The case involves Donald Trump, Todd Blanche, $10 billion, a slush fund, the IRS and . . . well, it's complicated. But Public Citizen has done a public service by presenting the most clear-eyed explanation of the Florida matter that I've seen. 

Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert, co-presidents of Public Citizen, issued the statement -- and it is a model of clarity and conciseness. In four short paragraphs, they hit the highlights of what the public needs to know about a case that could wind up rocking the Trump administration and Washington, D.C. In a few words, it says volumes about the corruption that has become rampant during Donald Trump's second term. Let's take a look:

“Donald Trump had the brilliant idea of suing the government he runs and resolving the lawsuit with the creation of an illegal and unconstitutional nearly $1.8 billion slush fund, paid for at taxpayer expense and likely to be distributed to January 6 insurrectionists, among others, with an immunity deal protecting Trump and his family from IRS investigation. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was a willing participant in this fraud on the court and the American people.

“Trump and the DOJ tried to remove the issue from the court in which Trump originally filed the sham lawsuit, but now Judge Williams has had her word. In a devastating order, she finds that ‘This lawsuit was not brought to vindicate rights; it was brought to manipulate the judicial process to pursue benefits unavailable in litigation because the Parties were not adverse.” The abuse is so severe that she has ordered the bar to consider sanctions against Trump’s attorney; ordered that Trump and DOJ never again refer to their collusive deal as a ‘settlement;’ and authorized amicus filers in the case — including Public Citizen — to seek attorneys fees. 

“Crucially, Judge Williams finds that the abuse is committed equally by Trump’s private lawyers and Todd Blanche’s Department of Justice, with DOJ’s conduct ‘equally untenable.’ Blanche’s DOJ ‘disregarded DOJ policies, and accomplished objectives beyond those authorized, as well as those specifically prohibited, by law.’ 

“If the Senate needed an additional reason not to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, it just got it.”