Speaking Of Sounding Better In His Head

NEW: The Todd Blanche who just addressed the Justice Department reminds me a lot of the guy former SDNY lawyers tell me they knew. In particular, he talked about the importance of diversity and even disagreement among DOJ staff. 1/

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) August 13, 2026

I don't dispute that that has, in fact, been his experience over the last three decades in and out of government. But I wonder how it struck the thousands who have been fired and/or forced to resign from DOJ and the FBI since Jan. 20, 2025. 3/

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) August 13, 2026

But why then has this administration punished those who did exactly that? 5/

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) August 13, 2026

According to Blanche, the best DOJ and FBI employees "are perfectly comfortable arguing fiercely in the conference room or in your offices about the best strategy or the best path forward. But when they walk out of that room, when they walk out of that conference, when they write that brief, when they go into court, they execute the decided plan as one team, one mission, one goal." 4/

The other strange part was Blanche's asserted "respect [for] the role of the judiciary," as he told the audience, "We will not engage in or stand for any sort of performative attacks that undermine the institutions that we are sworn to uphold." 7/

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) August 13, 2026

There is some daylight between the message and the messenger, at least in his present-day form. FIN.

— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) August 13, 2026

A) Like Trump, Blanche has learned to listen entirely to the voice in his head, regardless how it sounds outside;

B) Like Trump, Blanche has learned to believe that whatever he is saying at the moment, is true. At least at the moment.

C) These are not mutually exclusive positions.

D)  ETTD remains the iron law of the universe.