Harry Litman - "Rest Assured": Blanche is Bluffing in the Comey Case
Every young federal prosecutor gets the same lecture early in their career, at a week-long training session for new hires—“baby prosecutors’ school,” as it’s known—and then again from their supervisors before their first jury trial. A maxim is drummed into their head: underpromise and overdeliver.
When you stand up with an opening argument to a jury, don’t boast. Give them the basics. Tell them what the evidence will show, cleanly and without flourish, then step back and let the evidence do the work. That’s it.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche once lived by that axiom and taught it to younger attorneys during his eight-year tenure in the Southern District of New York, including a stint as co-chief of its violent crimes division.
As with every other aspect of the norms and best practices of the Department of Justice, Blanche, consumed by a desire to impress the president, has turned the standard to underpromise and overdeliver on its head.
https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/rest-assured-blanche-is-bluffing