The Senate Judiciary Committee has released Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche’s written responses to questions for the record, submitted after two days of confirmation hearings. In more than 400 pages of sworn written testimony, the record shows a nominee still unwilling to give the Senate straight answers on the matters that most directly determine whether he can serve as an independent Attorney General working for the American people.
Here’s what Blanche’s written responses revealed:
BLANCHE STANDS BY HIS CLAIM THAT DOJ IS NOT INDEPENDENT FROM THE PRESIDENT
Senator Coons asked Blanche to explain an April 18, 2026 appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, where Blanche said: “there’s this model out there that somehow the DOJ is independent from the President of the United States. That is not true,” comparing the Attorney General to other Cabinet officials who serve at the President’s direction. Asked in writing whether he stood by that statement, Blanche’s response was one word: “Yes.”
BLANCHE WON’T EXPLAIN WHERE THE $1.776 BILLION CAME FROM
In his written responses, Senator Thom Tillis asked Blanche whether the DOJ had to justify the fund’s amount to the Treasury Department and how the DOJ arrived at the $1.776 billion figure for the “Anti-Weaponization Fund.” Blanche refused to answer either question about the slush fund in writing, stating it “would be inappropriate for me to comment on internal deliberations that may or may not have occurred in conjunction with any official act by the Department of Justice.”
Asked in writing who was involved in preparing that justification, and whether anyone at DOJ met with Treasury officials about the request, Blanche gave the identical written non-answer each time.
BLANCHE’S OWN WRITTEN ANSWERS UNDERCUT HIS ASSURANCES ON WHO COULD COLLECT
Asked in writing whether any January 6th defendant had applied for or inquired about payment from the slush fund, Blanche gave the same scripted line in his written response that he’s repeated since his confirmation hearing: “no commissioners have been appointed; no funds have been transferred, no claims have been received, and no claims have been paid.” That answer says nothing about who would be eligible if the slush fund were to become operative, and Blanche’s own written responses supply the answer he won’t give directly.
Blanche confirmed, under oath, that he told the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 19, 2026, that “anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they’re a victim of weaponization,” an answer he gave in response to a question about whether individuals who assaulted Capitol Hill police officers were eligible for the fund.
BLANCHE WON’T SAY WHY HE DIDN’T RECUSE FROM THE SETTLEMENT INVOLVING HIS FORMER CLIENT
Blanche has acknowledged he was advised by DOJ ethics officials to recuse from matters involving his former client, President Trump. The May 18 settlement establishing the fund was signed on the DOJ’s behalf by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. But the following day, Blanche personally signed the May 19 addendum releasing Trump, his family, and Trump-affiliated entities from tax liability. Asked in writing why he did not recuse from that matter, who negotiated the tax immunity provisions, and whether he consulted ethics officials before signing, Blanche gave the identical written answer to every question: it would be “inappropriate for me to comment on internal deliberations that may or may not have occurred in conjunction with any official act by the Department of Justice.”
Asked in writing whether the settlement violated a federal law that makes it a crime for White House officials to request the IRS terminate an audit of a specific taxpayer, Blanche declined to answer that as well.
BLANCHE WON’T SAY WHO ORDERED RECORDS FLAGGED FOR MENTIONS OF TRUMP
When asked who at DOJ ordered FBI personnel to flag Epstein-related records that mentioned Donald Trump, Blanche’s written response stated only that reviewers were instructed not to redact the names of “politically exposed persons” for reasons of embarrassment or political sensitivity. He did not name who gave the order.
BLANCHE WON’T ANSWER FOR THE DOJ’S TARGETING OF TRUMP’S CRITICS
In the questionnaire, Senator Booker asked Blanche to detail his personal involvement in DOJ investigations or prosecutions of more than two dozen of the President’s perceived opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, former CIA Director John Brennan, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, among others.
Blanche’s response declined to answer for the entire list at once, citing his inability to confirm or deny the existence of any investigation. He gave the same blanket written refusal when asked whether he knew before those investigations began about President Trump’s public social media posts declaring several of the same individuals “guilty as hell.”
BLANCHE STILL WON’T NAME WHO HIS CLIENT IS
Asked repeatedly whether his “chief client” as Attorney General would be the American people or President Trump, Blanche never gave an unqualified written answer.
His response each time recited that the Department of Justice “seeks to do justice every day on behalf of the American people” before immediately pivoting to note that “Article II of the Constitution gives the President the Executive power” and that the Department “is part of the Executive branch.” Asked the identical question in writing about his current role as Acting Attorney General, he gave the identical written answer.