Tuesday on CNN’s “OutFront,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) predicted President Donald Trump would set up a new anti-weaponization fund the day after the midterm election.
Host Kate Bolduan said, “Your committee also voted today to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination to be the permanent attorney general of the United States. Cornyn and Tillis, the Republicans, they supported Blanche, saying their demands, they were met for getting clarity and kind of finality, they said, and assurances that the DOJ’s anti-Weaponization Fund is fully dead. I want to play for you what Cornyn said today, talking about President Trump in this.”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said, “Well, there’s nothing we could do to rein in the president when he said he likes the fund and he wishes it still exists. But the fact of the matter is, it’s dead. And that’s all we could do under these circumstances.”
Bolduan said, “Senator, do you agree with that?”
Padilla said, “I couldn’t disagree more. Trump can be reined in, but it takes Republican senators because they’re in the majority to hold the line. People were hopeful when both he and Senator Tillis said they would not vote to advance Todd Blanche until there were assurances, legal guarantees, that this weaponization fund would not be created. And the language that came out publicly that is supposedly sufficient for Cornyn and Tillis to vote the way they did today doesn’t hold water. And this became a focus in today’s hearing before the vote. There’s nothing that can keep Donald Trump from creating a new fund by any other name starting tomorrow. My prediction is it’ll be the day after the election, because they know what the consequences are, impacting the midterm elections. And so, I’m disappointed, but not surprised.”
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