Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced tough questions from senators during his confirmation hearing Wednesday over his role in creating a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and a related tax immunity deal for President Donald Trump, his family and allies.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, one of a few Republicans who have not committed to voting for Blanche to head the Department of Justice, appeared dissatisfied with Blanche’s repeated promises that the administration was not moving forward with the fund.
Cornyn and several Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee also pressed Blanche to explain the terms of the IRS immunity agreement, which a federal judge this week blasted as a manipulation of the justice system by the Justice Department, Trump’s private lawyers and the president.
But Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, another Republican who’s said he’s undecided, signaled he was ready to move on from debate over the matter. He suggested the Justice Department could work with Congress on a measure that would formally declare the fund dead and potentially render the underlying litigation irrelevant.
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“I want to stick a fork in it,” Tillis said in the hearing. He asked Blanche if the Justice Department would help draft language to do just that. Blanche agreed.
“You’ve done a great job today,” Tillis concluded.
Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) limited senators to just 10 minutes of questioning each, with no second round, unlike typical confirmation hearings. The committee will hold a second day of hearings on Thursday with a panel of outside witnesses that will include former Attorney General John Ashcroft, an Epstein survivor and a former DOJ pardon attorney.
Blanche announced the so-called “anti-weaponization” fund and immunity agreement in May in an attempt to settle a lawsuit Trump brought against the IRS over a leak of his tax returns years earlier.
The fund, which has been indefinitely blocked by a federal judge, was designed to compensate people who claimed to have been unfairly targeted by federal authorities. Blanche has sought for weeks to quell outcry from lawmakers who worried the money could be used to pay rioters who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol building. Last month, he walked back the fund, telling Congress in a hearing that it was not moving forward, but he has refused requests to put that in writing.
Tillis told reporters outside the hearing that he was “leaning yes” on Blanche. He said he wanted to see evidence that the administration was working in “good faith” with Congress to quash the fund. He added that legislation ending the fund could mean “all the legal cases, everything else would be irrelevant.”
Tillis’s support would be a welcome sign for Blanche and the White House. Cornyn appeared to remain skeptical.
During Cornyn’s questions, Blanche reiterated his assurances that the fund was “moot.” But Cornyn asked whether the fund could be revived through a lawsuit or some other mechanism, noting that the administration had refused to put in writing that it had been abandoned.
“There is no fund. It’s dead,” Blanche responded.
Cornyn also zeroed in on the immunity agreement. He pointed out that Trump had filed the suit after the two-year statute of limitations had expired, which he said “struck me as unusual.” He pressed Blanche to explain the terms of the settlement, which would permanently release Trump, his sons, the family business and unnamed associates from past tax liabilities.
Ranking member Dick Durbin of Illinois tore into Blanche, saying he had “treated DOJ like President Trump’s personal law firm,” and criticized him for signing off on the settlement with Trump and the IRS.
He and other Democrats cited a scathing order this week by a federal judge in Florida that voided the deal and accused Blanche, Trump and the president’s lawyers of colluding to manipulate the justice system for Trump’s benefit.
Durbin said that Blanche had told him during a “respectful exchange” at his office Tuesday that the judge’s opinion was “a hit piece” on him — a characterization Durbin called “another troubling attack on a judge for doing her job.”
Blanche’s handling of the release of files from the Jeffrey Epstein case came up throughout the hearing. Under his supervision, the Justice Department faced intense criticism for failing to redact the names and identifying information of victims of the late sex offender’s abuse.
Blanche defended the Justice Department’s work, saying there were “mistakes that were made” and that the department had tried “to do the right thing.” The Justice Department had dozens of lawyers on call who could spring into action if a victim demanded a redaction, he said.
He also pledged to pursue prosecutions against people associated with Epstein’s crimes.
Durbin said 10 victims of Epstein’s abuse were at the hearing and demanded to know whether Blanche would meet with them in person. Blanche declined to commit to such meetings, saying a female staffer with experience in prosecuting sex crimes was ready to sit down with any victims who came forward.
“She can sit right next to you,” Durbin said, his voice rising.
“We remain available to meet with any victim at any time,” Blanche responded. “I’d love to prosecute anybody who did any harm to these victims.”
Other questions centered on Blanche’s independence from the White House, his close relationship with Trump and his role as Trump’s former defense lawyer.
Blanche appeared to fumble a softball question on the topic from Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana), who asked Blanche if he and Trump were friends.
“I’m his lawyer,” Blanche responded before correcting himself, saying he “was his lawyer, and now I’m the deputy attorney general.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) asked Blanche if his Justice Department maintains its independence from the White House. Blanche said the department operates with “integrity,” adding that it is part of the executive branch and as such he serves at the pleasure of the president.
“President Trump trusts me to give him counsel,” he added. “Counsel does not mean I’m a yes man.”
In his opening statement, Blanche presented himself as a family man who had worked his way through law school pursuing what he called his “American dream” of serving the Justice Department. His young granddaughter was at the hearing, along with his other family members.
He appealed to lawmakers’ election-year concerns, saying he wants to expand law enforcement partnerships in states and localities that had seen a drop in drug charges, fraud and violent crime.
“Every senator here has constituents who just want to be safe,” Blanche said.
He also leveled some criticism at his predecessors from previous administrations, suggesting that former justice officials had politicized the department.
Grassley, a close ally of Trump, pointed to what he called a “record of success” at the Justice Department under Blanche that involved protecting missing and endangered children, seizing illegal drugs, curbing violent crime and combating fraud.
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