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Cornyn, Tillis back Blanche for attorney general after deal on DOJ fund

▶ Watch Video: Senators Cornyn and Tillis back Blanche after “anti-weaponization fund” deal

Washington — GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina formally announced their support on Monday for Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general after reaching a long-sought agreement to end the controversial “anti-weaponization” fund and clarify the scope of a sweeping deal for tax immunity.

“We are pleased that the Department of Justice has issued a formal order terminating the anti-weaponization fund,” the Republican senators said in a joint statement. “Additionally, the Department has acknowledged in a binding written order that the audit settlement is limited to the plaintiffs and the scope does not extend beyond the defendants in the lawsuit, the IRS and the Treasury, addressing concerns that multiple of our Republican colleagues share.”

A Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News in a statement that the acting attorney general “signed an order on August 2nd that rescinds the May 18th Order establishing an Anti-Weaponization Fund. Further, the Acting AG restated and incorporated testimony he gave under oath that the May 19th Order has effect only on plaintiffs and defendants, and that the release is retroactive only.”

The support from Cornyn and Tillis clears a significant hurdle for Blanche in his quest to lead the Justice Department. With their backing, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to advance his nomination for attorney general to the full Senate. The committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday morning.

Concerns from the two senators regarding the president’s settlement with the IRS in May threatened to derail Blanche’s confirmation in recent weeks. The Judiciary Committee had initially scheduled a vote to advance his nomination last Thursday, but the meeting was postponed amid the opposition.

A committee spokesperson said then that the proceeding would be delayed “as work continues to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job.”

Cornyn and Tillis, who are both leaving the Senate early next year, noted in their statement that they have been clear from the outset that “we needed a written document addressing our concerns on the IRS audit agreement and the anti-weaponization fund that included constraining the scope of audit protection by limiting it to the parties of the Settlement Agreement and legally ending the anti-weaponization fund.” The pair expressed their gratitude to Blanche and his staff for their work to reach a resolution, and added that they “look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon.”

Cornyn told reporters on Capitol Hill that he and Tillis “got a stake driven through the heart of the weaponization fund.” 

“I think Todd Blanche did what we asked him to do,” he said. “It binds not only him but the Department of Justice as a whole, and so I think that satisfies my demands.”

Cornyn said it would be a “monumental mistake” for Blanche to attempt to resurrect the $1.8 billion program in another form. 

“I can’t predict the future so I don’t know what somebody might do,” he said. “I don’t know whether somebody might claim this release as immunity from a future tax audit. But what we wanted to do is make sure that there was an authoritative statement about what the scope was intended to be — that it only affected the parties to the underlying lawsuit.”

The $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund was created as part of a settlement agreement Mr. Trump reached with the IRS to resolve a civil lawsuit he filed over the leak of his tax returns by a government contractor. The program would have allowed people who claimed they were victims of “weaponization” by the federal government to seek compensation.

Another provision of the deal granted Mr. Trump, his two older sons, the Trump Organization and affiliated entities sweeping immunity from audits of tax returns.

The terms sparked swift pushback from Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who were concerned that people convicted for assaulting law enforcement during the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol could collect taxpayer-funded payments.

While Blanche told a House committee in June that the Justice Department was not moving forward with the “anti-weaponization” fund, his assertions failed to assuage senators’ concerns.

During his confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee last month, Cornyn pushed Blanche about the status of the fund and whether Mr. Trump himself had agreed in writing to kill it. The acting attorney general reiterated then that the program is “dead.”

Still, Cornyn and Tillis continued to negotiate with the Justice Department to address their concerns about the tax immunity and anti-weaponization program.

After Cornyn and Tillis’ opposition threatened to further stall Blanche’s confirmation, Mr. Trump delivered an ultimatum over the weekend, telling the GOP holdouts that if their blockade continued, he would keep Blanche on the job as acting attorney general and move to make the Justice Department fund a reality.

Tillis responded to the president’s threat on X on Saturday, saying despite the assurances from the administration, Mr. Trump “clearly intends to resurrect the payout pot for punks.” The North Carolina Republican said it was “unfortunate that Todd Blanche, who I consider qualified for the job, will not be confirmed because of this reversal,” while adding that he was hopeful the issue could be resolved by Tuesday’s committee meeting. 

A day later, Blanche announced an order rescinding the Justice Department’s fund. In addition to revoking his May directive creating the program, Blanche clarified that the tax immunity extends only to Mr. Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization, and covers only tax returns that had already been filed. 

In his announcement, Blanche cited his meetings with members of the Judiciary Committee in recent weeks and efforts to address the senators’ concerns. 

“We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement,” Blanche said. “The Department always welcomes and appreciates productive engagement with all members of Congress.”

The written settlement reached with Mr. Trump and his lawyers has not been modified.

Mr. Trump continued to defend the “anti-weaponization” fund Monday, telling reporters that it could’ve given people who claimed they were unfairly targeted by the government “some solace.”

“I view that fund as a positive,” he said.

Asked whether he signed off on the move to rescind the fund, Mr. Trump said, “I understand there’s been a sign-off, but I don’t know what they agreed to.”

“I think Todd Blanche agreed to reconfirm things that he’s already said and what he said was OK,” he said.

God save the drag kings of England

By CNN
Ramsgate, England (CNN) — For the past hour, Trudi Jackson has been painting on a chiselled jaw, sponging dragon tattoos to her forearms, taping down her breasts and gluing hair to her chest. “My favorite bit is my chin because I get to do the dimple,” she says, makeup brush in hand. But it is the moment she attaches the mustache – a furry creature transported in its own Tupperware container – that a kind of spirit takes over. The voice deepens; the stance widens. Walking is now a rolling swagger, and every woman in the room is looked up and down with a raised eyebrow: “Alright ‘luv?”Jackson has officially left the building. In her place, is the drag king Pat Riarchy.Pat is a little bit like an inappropriate uncle at a family gathering in the 1970s. He’s leery and sexist and delights in making women squirm. Despite the bravado of his flowing mullet and leopard print G-string, Pat is tragically ill-equipped for today’s rules of engagement.In his stage shows, Pat – often brandishing a Union Jack flag – tries to make sense of a world where “it’s hard being a bloke.” He jokes about “the girls taking our jobs” and is baffled by the acronym LGBTQIA+. At his “Karablokey” nights, Pat sings an original song called, “While Yer Down There Luv.” In another performance at a local pool as part of Pride festival, he told the gathered swimmers: “I am not a professional aqua aerobics instructor. But like all blokes, I can turn my hand to anything.”“For me, it’s cathartic,” says Jackson, 52, an actor and performance coach who grew up in a mining town in south Wales. “It’s my playing out of what it’s like to be born female in a world of this masculinity which was hugely toxic when I was growing up.”These days, Jackson and her drag king character live in Ramsgate, a port town on England’s southeast coast where – much like Pat’s flag – strings of Union Jacks flutter along the harbor. Like many towns along this stretch of coastline, it has pockets of deep deprivation, while also attracting artists and people looking for a quieter life away from London.Tucked at the back of one barber shop is Screaming Alley, a cabaret production company supporting independent artists. Descending a hot pink stairwell plastered with posters of George Michael and Madonna, you’ll find the Alley Bar and stage. On any given night there might be an open mic, community workshop, or recently – Jackson’s masterclass for aspiring drag kings.Over six weeks students develop their characters – learning about masculinity, costume, make-up and movement – with the aim of performing to a live audience at the end.What’s striking is that these drag classes are happening in the kind of English seaside town that voted strongly for Brexit – and where, in the decade since, the hard-right Reform UK has become a major political force.Like other hard-right populist parties across the globe, Reform’s brand is very much tied up in traditionalist masculinity. Its leader, Nigel Farage, has cultivated an image of the everyman who makes campaign stops in the pub. A politician who rails against what he sees as the social wokeism that’s stopping “young men being young men.” It’s the type of macho imagery drag kings delight in subverting.“We’re living through a time when conversations around gender, identity, class and power have become increasingly polarized, and Thanet (the district Ramsgate falls under) reflects that as much, if not more, as anywhere else,” says Lara Clifton, co-director of Screaming Alley. “What interests me is creating a space in the middle of those conversations – not to tell people what to think, but to invite them to play, laugh and spend time together.”As for working-class Pat, he would never vote for Reform himself. He views the affluent, private school-educated Farage as “a posh boy,” says Jackson. Pat is a more layered king than you might initially think, and class is an important element to his act. The so-called liberal elite are educated, and that’s a privilege, adds Jackson. “It’s a privilege to be woke. And rather than shaming people for their viewpoint, let’s have the conversation: ‘is it true? Is that real?’”King about townJackson has been performing Pat for five years, but the character grew out of the cancel culture she was seeing years earlier. “If we can’t debate properly, you close people down and they go underground. Which is why then the manosphere exploded,” she says. “My feeling is, let’s shine the light on it and laugh at it – let’s laugh at Pat, not silence him. Because when you silence him, then it just becomes insidious.”Walking the streets of Ramsgate with Pat on a sweltering Monday in July, as many people do double-takes as those who ignore him.On the beach one woman, Vanessa Duarte, calls out to Pat with a wide smile – she recognizes him from a previous show at the Alley Bar. During the performance, “one of my friends felt uncomfortable but another one loved it,” she says. Personally, she’s a fan: “he reminds me of my dad. He has photos in the same outfit.”Shortly after, a young man stumbles towards Pat from the direction of the pub, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. “Wait, is that… that’s a woman in there… is it real?” he asks. There is a tense moment when he gets close to Pat’s face, before deciding the drag king is “10 out of 10.” Jackson is pragmatic about the interaction: “That’s interesting to me because it opens up conversation. He’ll think about that.”Girls will be boysLater at the Alley Bar, Jackson’s masterclass is in full swing; tonight it’s a mixture of nine new and former students. It’s a glimpse of a thriving drag king community in the UK, which, while not as mainstream as their queen equivalents, still numbers in the hundreds.During the day, these women work as teachers, painter-decorators, full-time carers. One is a suicide bereavement liaison officer.Seeing them enter now dressed as kings is like a surreal timelapse of men through history: an 18th century fellow in a towering white wig, a pizza restauranter in aviator sunglasses, and a Lycra-clad influencer among them.Each person’s character is in some way inspired by the men around them – a million little interactions and observations added up to a complete persona. Maxine Rowe, 49, created her drag king – Dr. Eustace Hunt – after encountering a real doctor who dismissed her request for menopausal HRT treatment. The character Dr. Hunt, she explains, is in his 70s, wears country club clothes, and is too busy practicing his golf swing to hear women patients describing hot flashes. But when the patient is a man, “they can come in for a paper cut, and I’ll send them for an MRI scan,” she says, stethoscope round her neck.The more Rowe shared her character with other women, the more she found they had similar stories. “It feels like a release to be able to take something that’s difficult or horrible or stressful, and own it,” adds fellow student Katie Pope, 32, whose own drag king, Manny Sphere, is a young gym junkie, podcaster and grifter always trying to sell an enormous sports bottle of his “Man Juice.”During the class, Jackson is now simply herself; wearing pink shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt with “Ken” written in Barbie-font. She instructs the kings to form a circle and strike a pose: “Smolder!” she shouts. “Macho!” “Do fragile man!” “Confused!”“Now take your man and walk around your space as blokes. Ricky – more ‘aging rocker,’ give us a hip roll,” Jackson directs, imitating a leisurely swagger for 67-year-old Janis Royal, whose character is called Ricky Belissimo. Dressed in leopard-print leggings, silver boots and a thin silk scarf, Royal says her ‘70s glam rock look was inspired by her husband. “The wardrobe was already there,” she laughs. And when she’s not painting on a goatee and perfecting her manly stride? “I make art. Just a quiet life with my cat.”What quickly emerges, is Jackson’s talent for bringing comedic punch to each character. The performer, who trained at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and has 20 years of acting experience, might use a prop in an unexpected way, involve the audience, or hold a gaze for just long enough to get people giggling. That’s if Jackson isn’t already in stitches herself.Many of the drag kings talk of the confidence that comes with inhabiting a man’s physique – they stand taller, manspread, openly readjust their crotches. “You’re allowed to take up extra space being a man,” says Rowe.At one point, 46-year-old Penny Harston’s character, Dave, lets loose to Blur’s Britpop classic, “Girls & Boys.” Wearing an English football top, beanie, and a drawn-on five o’clock shadow, Dave thrusts to the chorus: “Girls who are boys, who like boys to be girls… always should be someone you really looooove.” It’s joyous and furious all at once.Harston is also one of the Screaming Marys, a performance collective managed by Screaming Alley, which regularly hosts workshops in everything from burlesque to lip-syncing – and previously did Jackson’s drag king course. Now, the Screaming Marys run their own drag king nights at the Alley Bar, where they perform on stage and invite audiences to come dressed as their “ultimate bloke.”“It was so nice to be able to go to a group of people and be silly, get up and dance, and not be judged,” said fellow Screaming Mary, Helen Gibson, 43, of joining the collective and “finding your people.” Gibson’s drag king character, Barry, is one of the most intriguing to come out of Jackson’s course.He sports a bowl haircut, drab T-shirt, oversized glasses, and tends to stand in the corner quietly watching. “Barry is a 45-year-old virgin who spends a lot of time with his mum,” says Gibson. He was inspired by the adult brother of a family friend, someone who as kids, they always found “quite scary.” But when played by Gibson, there is also a vulnerability. Like Pat, and all the kings here, there are so many layers to each character.“To become a drag king, you need to be in some way curious about masculinity – you could choose to celebrate it, exaggerate it or expose its inherent contradictions,” says Clifton. “Drag in all its forms reminds us that masculinity – like femininity – is something we all learn, perform and negotiate.”As the Alley Bar calls it a night, the performers wipe off their stubble and gather up their wigs. The kings have left the building.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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