"We file thousands, thousands of criminal cases in this country every year. Thousands at the Federal level. Um, hundreds every day. And so to the extent that myself or President Trump or lawyers who work with me are being accused of some sort of political retribution, it is simply not true. It is absolutely not true."
"Well, if you look at the recent [unintelligible] you asked me about a few minutes ago, you have local prosecutors, you have local agents, I don't even know their names. I don't know their names. Who are bringing these charges. That's one way."
"The only charges Blanche has announced were targets of Trump or his close allies. And generally, the charges for interstate threats like those with which Comey was charged are only announced if a senior Republican (obviously, including Trump) or a right wing influencer was the purported victim."
Todd Blanche, as Acting Attorney General, defended against accusations of political prosecution by claiming he doesn't know the local prosecutors charging Jim Comey. He argued that thousands of criminal cases are filed annually, making political retribution implausible. However, analysis reveals Blanche has only announced three charges since taking office, all targeting Trump or his close associates. Additionally, the lead prosecutor, Matthew Petracca, is a former New Jersey Republican politician and former DOJ Medicaid fraud attorney, not an unknown local prosecutor. The selective announcement pattern and Blanche's apparent familiarity with the case undermine his defense against political motivation claims.
Read at emptywheel
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