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I think Sen. Susan Collins should vote against confirmation of Todd Blanche for U.S. attorney general. I believe he is not a champion for justice. To the contrary, in his handling of the Epstein affair, he has obstructed justice and violated the law. He conducts frivolous investigations and prosecutions, not in pursuit of justice but to please a vindictive president.
I have been deeply disappointed by the senator’s past votes on cabinet and judicial nominees, most notably to confirm Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose opposition to vaccines has no doubt been responsible for countless unnecessary deaths. I believe this and other confirmation votes reflect poorly on her judgment.
Experienced senators should be savvy enough to understand that when a nominee, such as Brett Kavanaugh or RFK, Jr., wants their vote badly enough, they may be lying. I doubt Blanche would hesitate to follow their example.
I believe it would be astute politically to oppose the Blanche confirmation. Results of a Reuters/Ipsos poll in June, reported in The Bulwark, demonstrate this clearly: “[The poll] showed that seventy-five percent of Americans—including sixty-six percent of Republicans—believe that the federal government is continuing to hide information about Epstein and his clients. And just ten percent of Americans — and just twenty-one percent of Republicans — think the Trump administration has helped deliver justice.”
I believe Collins knows the right thing to do. She needs only the courage — and I believe it should require little — to do it.
Michael Bacon
Westbrook