WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is set to confront questions about his brief but turbulent tenure atop the Justice Department during a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday that will test President Donald Trump’s grip on Republican lawmakers whose support the nominee will need for the job.
Blanche, according to prepared remarks released before the hearing, is expected to tell lawmakers that he and his team are “restoring trust” in the Justice Department. It’s a nod toward complaints from Democrats that he has weaponized the law enforcement institution by pursuing criminal investigations into Trump’s perceived adversaries.
Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, has run the department on an interim basis since April. During that time, he has accelerated investigations into Trump foes, functioned as the public face of a maligned fund meant to compensate the Republican president’s allies and alarmed press freedom advocates with an aggressive pursuit of news media leaks.
Here’s the latest:
Blanche: ‘I don’t question President Trump’s authority’ on Jan. 6 pardons
Blanche didn’t endorse Trump’s move specifically, but said the U.S. Constitution gives presidents “the authority to pardon anybody for any federal crime.”
Just hours after returning to the White House last year, Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the riot.
Durbin took issue with the decision, saying that “someone should have grabbed him by the arm and said, ‘Stop, you can’t release all of those rioters.’”
“For the president to give a blanket pardon to these individuals is something that I don’t think you can explain to the American people,” Durbin added.
Blanche defends the settlement that granted Trump immunity from tax audits
Durbin pressed Blanche over a deal to end Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns. The Justice Department has faced intense scrutiny over part of the settlement that granted the president immunity from tax audits.
Blanche said such an agreement is “typical” in settlements like that one.
“Nobody is above the law,” Blanche told Durbin. “And when we enter the settlements like that … It doesn’t make any of those individuals above the law.”
Blanche says his heart ‘breaks’ for Epstein’s victims
Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who is ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, repeatedly pressed Blanche about whether he would commit to meeting with Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.
Durbin noted that 10 victims of Epstein were in the room for Blanche’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
“I appreciate them being here today,” Blanche said. “I have never said I wouldn’t meet with survivors.”
“I hope you would do it immediately, or we’re going to hold you to it,” Durbin said.
Blanche said he would be willing to prosecute “anyone who did any harm to any of these victims.”
“My heart breaks for every survivor,” he said.
Blanche defends DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files
Under questioning from the committee’s Republican chair, Blanche acknowledged that the Justice Department made redaction mistakes when reviewing and releasing millions of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation.
Blanche said he takes responsibility for the mistakes that were made, but also said department lawyers who reviewed the documents took pains to protect victims and quickly fixed any errors.
The fallout over the department’s handling of the Epstein files continues to plague the Trump administration.
Blanche said the administration has been “extraordinarily transparent” in releasing the files, despite the department agreeing to release more records only after Congress passed a law forcing it to do so.
‘We are restoring trust’ in the Justice Department, Blanche says
Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, alluded in his opening statement to the criminal cases brought against Trump in the last administration.
Blanche said that “in recent years, Americans watched the Justice Department turn against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public’s faith in justice.”
He added: “We are fixing that.”
While the Trump administration has said it is determined to end the “weaponization” of law enforcement that it said occurred under the Biden administration, critics argue it has instead turned the agency into a tool of retribution against Trump’s political opponents.
The department under Trump has opened investigations or brought prosecutions against numerous foes of the president, including former FBI Director James Comey.
Blanche highlights the Justice Department’s shifting priorities under Trump
In his opening statement, Blanche touted the Trump administration’s efforts to lower violent crime, stem the flow of illicit drugs, prosecute dangerous cartels and take down fraudsters taking advantage of American taxpayers.
The Justice Department under Trump has moved aggressively to prioritize immigration enforcement and turn up the pressure on cartels. It also created a new division dedicated to tackling fraud in taxpayer-funded programs.
Florida senator highlights Blanche’s pre-Trump career
As a counter to Democrats’ narrative portraying Blanche as loyal only to Trump, Sen. Ashley Moody reminded the committee that the acting attorney general began his career at the Department of Justice as a paralegal.
Moody also detailed Blanche’s years with the Southern District of New York, where she said, “He prosecuted drug traffickers and violent criminals.” She also detailed various awards and commendations he received while in that role.
Watch these 2 Republicans on the committee
The stakes are high for Blanche, who needs the support of every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee for his nomination to advance.
Two of those Republicans — Sen. Thom Tillis and John Cornyn — haven’t committed to supporting him.
Tillis has been an outspoken critic of a $1.776 billion fund that the Trump administration created to compensate people who feel unjustly persecuted by the criminal justice system and then quickly withdrew.
Tillis and Cornyn are expected to grill Blanche over a separate element of the settlement that afforded Trump and members of his family protection from tax audits.
Durbin says Blanche still acts like Trump’s personal attorney
In his opening statement, Sen. Dick Durbin railed against actions taken by the Justice Department under Blanche’s watch, including a move to create a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate allies of the president.
The top Democrat on the committee also condemned the purging of Justice Department employees deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump and the department’s handling of millions of investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation.
Durbin accused Blanche of still acting like Trump’s personal lawyer, pursuing investigations against the president’s foes while taking steps to aid his allies.
“In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice, you’ve shown you’re still President Trump’s personal attorney,” Durbin said.
Attorney general confirmation hearing getting underway
Blanche is expected to face bipartisan scrutiny as he seeks the chance to serve out the duration of Trump’s term.
Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, has run the department on an interim basis since April, when Pam Bondi was fired after struggling to bring successful cases against Trump’s political foes.
Since taking the reins at the Justice Department, Blanche has accelerated investigations into Trump foes, functioned as the public face of a maligned fund meant to compensate the president’s allies and alarmed press freedom advocates with an aggressive pursuit of news media leaks.
Blanche faces Senate scrutiny, with Republican support key to his confirmation as attorney general
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will confront questions Wednesday about his brief but turbulent tenure atop the Justice Department during a Senate confirmation hearing that will test President Donald Trump’s grip on Republican lawmakers whose support the nominee will need for the job.
Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, has run the department on an interim basis since April, during which time he’s accelerated investigations into Trump foes, functioned as the public face of a maligned fund meant to compensate the Republican president’s allies and alarmed press freedom advocates with an aggressive pursuit of news media leaks.
Those actions will receive fresh scrutiny at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing as Blanche testifies for the opportunity to serve out the duration of Trump’s term.
The Associated Press
