Seen, Heard & Whispered: Blanche, Martin mend fences; Pelosi loses the room; new election push

Todd and Ed make up

It appears Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is moving to mend fences with conservative activists, and Steve Bannon, a confidante of President Trump, is apparently one beneficiary.

The Justice Department asked federal courts to vacate Mr. Bannon’s conviction for contempt of Congress, with Mr. Blanche announcing the move on social media.

“Seen, Heard & Whispered” has learned that the move surprised conservatives who had worried Mr. Blanche was not sufficiently committed to the MAGA movement.

Those questions about Mr. Blanche have focused on a perceived rift between him and Ed Martin, a former acting U.S. attorney for the District whom Mr. Trump named as his pardon attorney and put in charge of the DOJ’s weaponization group, which fights Democrats’ lawfare.

After Mr. Martin was dismissed from the group, “Seen, Heard & Whispered” reported on conservative complaints, including by Mr. Bannon.

All sides are now taking pains to talk nice, however.

“All this chatter about Todd Blanche and me is FakeNews,” Mr. Martin posted on X. “I’m proud to work for @realDonaldTrump — with Pam [Bondi] and Todd — for a historic year of Trump Mercy! 2025 Trump pardons gave victims of weaponization life. Let’s talk more about what the president’s done — and what he’ll do in this 250th year.”

Mr. Blanche responded with his own X post: “Truth. See you at work, Ed. Let’s go!”

Mr. Bannon was convicted for defying a subpoena from the Democrats’ committee investigating the mob incursion on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. That prosecution was brought by the Biden Justice Department.

Mr. Blanche called the subpoena “improper,” and his department said it has asked the district court to vacate the conviction and dismiss the indictment with prejudice, meaning the plaintiff can’t refile the same claim again in that court.

Democrats, meanwhile, have suggested Mr. Martin’s removal from the weaponization group was because he mishandled grand jury material. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to disclose documents about Mr. Martin’s role on the weaponization task force.

A conservative insider dismissed Mr. Raskin’s request, saying, “Who knows what they are up to?”

The insider said Mr. Martin has been at the White House as part of his pardon attorney duties.

“As just the pardon attorney, he has so much more freedom,” the insider said.

Pelosi powers down

For decades, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dominated Washington, but the city has begun to tune her out — literally.

The California Democrat, who is retiring at the end of this year, was among lawmakers who spoke at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s Congressional Dinner last week at the Waldorf Astoria, formerly the Trump International Hotel.

But many of the media members and politicos in attendance couldn’t hear what she said, as the din of the dinner crowd drowned her out.

“Pelosi was Queen Democrat for an entire generation, yet she couldn’t even hold the attention of a room full of Democrats and their media allies,” one attendee told “Seen, Heard & Whispered” and then alluded to suspicions about how Mrs. Pelosi accumulated her wealth.“It’s a good thing she made enough money [from] insider trading not to need money in retirement from the speaking circuit, because no one appears to care about what she has to say.”

New election integrity effort

If conservatives can’t get Congress to change election laws, they’ll have to take it to the states, Nicole Kelly tells “Seen, Heard & Whispered.”

She’s launching a new election integrity effort this week, Save Election Day, aimed at getting states to adopt their own safeguards, including some of President Trump’s election ideas.

That includes enforcing a uniform day for ballots to be cast and received in federal elections, blocking the counting of ballots received late and requiring proof of citizenship before being allowed to vote. Currently, voters can register and vote by attesting to their citizenship.

Ms. Kelly previously served as a compliance lawyer for political action committees and was the Republican National Lawyers Association’s political director in Nevada in the 2022 and 2024 elections. She said Nevada, Georgia and other swing states are her chief targets.

“What we are looking to do going forward is going to those states that may have had issues in 2020 and 2024,” she said.

• “Seen, Heard & Whispered” is a weekly column taking you inside the conversations happening in Washington’s power corridors, the moves being made and the whispers that explain what’s really going on in the nation’s capital. Email tips to whispered@washingtontimes.com.