WASHINGTON – Last week, Trump’s Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche and witnesses appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for two days of confirmation hearings. In the days since, the case against his confirmation has only strengthened.
Blanche misled the committee about his own conduct, was accused by DOJ’s former pardon attorney of running the department as Trump’s personal law firm, and fumbled an attempt at damage control with Epstein survivors that left them more convinced than ever he shouldn’t be confirmed. At one point, he even admitted he was Trump’s lawyer before correcting himself.
All of it points to the same point the Not Above the Law coalition has been making for months: Todd Blanche has never stopped being Donald Trump’s personal lawyer; he’s simply trading his private practice for the country’s top law enforcement job.
Here’s a recap of the lowlights from Blanche’s confirmation process so far:
BLANCHE LIED UNDER OATH: BLANCHE TOLD THE COMMITTEE HE WAS “PROHIBITED” FROM MEETING SURVIVORS. HE THEN MET WITH SURVIVORS THE NEXT DAY.
Under questioning from Sen. Dick Durbin on day one, Blanche claimed a legal restriction prevented him from meeting with Epstein survivors directly, telling the committee, “I’m prohibited from meeting directly with them.” Moments later, in that same exchange, he reversed course, saying he personally could meet with them after all.
Sen. Cory Booker called the original claim “utter nonsense” with no basis in any legal statute, and confirmation that Blanche had misled the committee about a restriction that doesn’t exist.
BLANCHE FINALLY MET SURVIVORS. THEY FOUND HIM “CONDESCENDING,” “NONCOMMITTAL,” AND “DEMORALIZING.”
Despite claiming he’d always been open to meeting with survivors, Blanche went eight months without doing so. Epstein survivor Dani Bensky testified on day two that survivors hadrepeatedly tried to reach him and gotten no response. Facing an on-the-record ultimatum from Sen. Thom Tillis, who said he wouldn’t vote to advance the nomination without a meeting, Blanche finally sat down with several survivors at DOJ headquarters that Thursday afternoon.
Survivor Annie Farmer said afterward she found him “abrasive, condescending, and intentionally noncommittal,” and she’s now more confident urging senators to reject his confirmation. Bensky said Blanche treated the sit-down as a “check-the-box” exercise meant to secure votes, offering no credible plan to pursue accountability. Survivor Liz Stein called the meeting simply “demoralizing.”
BLANCHE’S OWN FORMER PARDON ATTORNEY SAYS HE FIRED HER FOR REFUSING A FAVOR FOR TRUMP ALLY MEL GIBSON
Elizabeth Oyer, the Justice Department’s former pardon attorney, testified that Blanche fired her after she refused a request from his office to restore the firearm rights of Mel Gibson, a personal friend of the president.
According to Oyer, Blanche runs the department as if it works for Trump personally, rather than the American people. She also testified that more than a quarter of Justice Department attorneys have left the agency under a culture of fear that Blanche helped create.
FORMER DOJ OFFICIAL: THE MAXWELL DEAL “SHOCKS THE CONSCIENCE”
Oyer told the committee that Blanche personally spent two days meeting with convicted Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell in prison to secure her assurance that Trump had never behaved inappropriately toward her. Shortly after, Maxwell was quietly moved to a minimum-security prison camp.
Oyer called the arrangement a violation of Justice Department policy that “shocks the conscience.”
BLANCHE SAID THE $1.8 BILLION SLUSH FUND IS “DEAD” BUT AGAIN REFUSED TO PUT IT IN WRITING
Blanche told the committee the weaponization fund “is dead” and no money will be paid out. But even Republicans aren’t buying it. Sen. Thom Tillis indicated that he needs Trump himself to endorse a permanent legislative fix before he’ll sign off, telling reporters: “I have to have absolute certainty that 1776 fund cannot rear its ugly head.” Sen. John Cornyn left the hearing equally unconvinced.
This isn’t the first time Blanche has made this promise. He told the House the same thing back in June, testifying, “We are not moving forward with the fund, period.” Even then, he refused to put that commitment in writing.
BLANCHE DEFENDED PERMANENT TAX IMMUNITY FOR THE TRUMP FAMILY
While distancing himself from the slush fund, Blanche stood by the companion settlement he personally signed – one that shields Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization from IRS audits.
When Sen. Adam Schiff pressed him on whether the president is now immune from tax claims for the years covered by the settlement, Blanche couldn’t answer the question cleanly.