Trump ally Blanche vows to regain senators’ trust at AG confirmation hearing

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended his tumultuous record as the temporary head of the Justice Department on Wednesday as he faced bipartisan scrutiny of his bid to become the nation’s Senate-confirmed chief law enforcement officer.

Blanche, President Donald Trump‘s former defense lawyer tapped last year to serve as the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, has held the department’s top job on an interim basis since April, when the president fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi.

In that time, he has accelerated investigations of the president’s political rivals; defended and then abandoned a controversial plan to create a nearly $1.8 billion fund to pay those who claim they were targeted by political prosecutions; and pushed forward with probes aimed at finding evidence to support Trump’s long-held, baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

Though Blanche’s tenure has drawn bipartisan pushback at times and prompted even some Republican senators to question whether they will vote in support of his nomination, he told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that his ultimate goal is to make America safer.

“I am here today to earn your trust once more,” Blanche said at the top of his confirmation hearing. He added: “In recent years, Americans watched as the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public’s faith in justice. We are fixing that.”

Democrats on the committee, who are unified in their plans to reject Blanche’s nomination, signaled that trust has been irrevocably broken during Blanche’s months at the Justice Department’s helm.

Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois), the committee’s ranking Democrat, lambasted Blanche as a “yes-man” who has overseen a hollowing-out of department personnel and never stopped viewing his job as protecting Trump.

“This nation deserves an attorney general who loves the Constitution more than he loves any single president. An attorney general who is focused on keeping Americans safe and combating corruption – not satisfying the president’s personal grievances and filling his bank accounts,” Durbin said.

Blanche, himself, briefly stumbled when describing his relationship to Trump and whether he considers the president a friend.

“I’m his lawyer,” Blanche said, before quickly correcting his statement. “Was his lawyer.”

The Judiciary Committee’s chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), lauded Blanche’s record combating violent crime, prosecuting fraudsters and working to secure the nation’s border.

“This department is keeping Americans safe, and the numbers back that up,” Grassley said. “Mr. Blanche, you should take pride in delivering the law enforcement promise the American people voted for in 2024.”

For Blanche’s nomination to advance, he will need the votes of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee. But in recent days, at least two Republican members have said they have not yet fully made up their minds.

Sens. Thom Tillis (North Carolina) and John Cornyn (Texas) have raised questions about Blanche’s oversight of a controversial deal to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS. Cornyn has said that Blanche’s answers before the committee Wednesday could determine whether the nominee will receive his backing – though Tillis, an early skeptic, said he was leaning toward giving Blanche his support.

In a Monday ruling, a federal judge characterized the agreement as an “improper” exercise in self-dealing and an abuse of the court process.

On Wednesday, Cornyn sharply questioned Blanche on the deal, including what he described as the “unusual” tax benefits it provided for the president and its now-scuttled proposal for a $1.8 billion payout fund for those who claim they were unfairly targeted by politicized prosecutions.

Should either Cornyn or Tillis ultimately vote against Blanche, it would be enough to stop his nomination before it gets to the Senate floor. Before the hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-Louisiana) had also said he had questions for Blanche and had not yet decided whether he would support him.

With the death of another committee member, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), over the weekend, there are 11 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to the Democrats’ 10. Graham’s seat was left empty during Wednesday’s hearing and adorned with a black drape and flowers.

“He was a patriot and a friend to so many of us,” Blanche said of Graham. “It’s a loss for the American people.” Senators, too, paid tribute to Graham.

But that brief moment of comity quickly devolved into pointed partisan attacks on issues including the Justice Department’s handling of the public release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the settlement of Trump’s IRS suit.

Republican lawmakers have criticized the department for sloppy redactions that exposed the names of some of Epstein’s victims, while accusing officials of over-redacting in other instances, potentially obscuring names of people who may have been complicit in Epstein’s crimes.

Blanche, under Bondi, oversaw that public rollout. During Blanche’s confirmation hearing Wednesday, several of Epstein’s accusers were seated in the Senate gallery. Prompted by Durbin, Blanche offered to have a staffer meet with them after Wednesday’s hearing, but he resisted calls for him personally to do so, saying he is legally prohibited if they have attorneys.

“This administration, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, has been more transparent than any past administration, than Biden was or anybody else,” Blanche said of the release of files, which came only after Congress passed a law last year requiring it.

“When it comes to the victims of this horrible man, we will never, never not talk to victims. We will never not do everything we can to prosecute anybody that committed any crimes against these women,” Blanche said.

The proposed $1.8 billion payout fund for those who claim they have been wrongfully prosecuted triggered a rare rebellion by Senate Republicans earlier this year, with several expressing concern that it could be used to compensate people convicted of attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The lawsuit settlement also shielded the president, his family and his associated businesses from scrutiny of past tax returns, a potentially lucrative benefit for a president who has complained about burdensome IRS audits in the past – a provision that also drew some Republican skepticism.

The backlash prompted Blanche, days afterward, to return to Capitol Hill to assure lawmakers that the Justice Department no longer intended to move forward with the fund proposal, but he has said the department intends to honor its agreement with the Trumps regarding past tax claims.

But during questioning Wednesday, Cornyn zeroed in on Blanche’s refusal so far to put into writing his pledge that the payout fund would not go forward. Cornyn noted that it still remained a part of the Trumps’ agreement with the Justice Department despite Blanche’s assertion that it would not be pursued.

Unlike Bondi, who routinely arrived to congressional hearings with scripted insults for Democrats, Blanche largely endured the barbed questioning from Democrats with a reserved and measured tone, only periodically showing brief flashes of impatience.

The Judiciary Committee is expected to hear from several witnesses in support of or in opposition to Blanche’s nomination on Thursday and then vote later this month whether to advance it to the full Senate.

If that happens, the Senate Republican leadership has said it intends to hold a full confirmation vote on Blanche before the chamber departs for its August recess.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) said Tuesday he was optimistic that in the end Blanche would be confirmed.

“The meetings he’s had with individual senators, both on the Judiciary Committee and off, have gone really well,” Thune told reporters. “The readouts and feedback I’ve gotten have been really strong. So hopefully there’ll be a path forward.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Theodoric Meyer covers the Senate for The Washington Post. Jeremy Roebuck covers the Justice Department and FBI for The Washington Post. Perry Stein covers the Justice Department and FBI for The Washington Post.