Senator Thom Tillis sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, making him a key vote in Todd Blanche’s Attorney General confirmation. He has also called January 6 rioters “thugs” and vowed to oppose nominees who excuse the insurrection. So when Tillis declared last week that he is “generally satisfied” with Blanche’s nomination, seeing nothing disqualifying “from a J6 standpoint,” it’s worth setting the record straight.
Blanche isn’t just a Trump loyalist. He is the architect of a systematic effort to erase accountability for January 6.
Here is a closer look at Blanche’s January 6 record:
Blanche Left a Top Law Firm to Personally Defend Trump In His January 6th Case. In 2023, Blanche joined Trump’s defense team in Jack Smith’s indictment charging Trump with conspiracy to obstruct the January 6th Electoral College certification and defraud the United States. Blanche said representing Trump was “an opportunity I should not pass up.”
Blanche Moved to Try to Vacate January 6 Rioters’ Convictions. As Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General, Blanche led the DOJ’s effort to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of twelve Proud Boys members who planned and participated in the Capitol attack, as well as Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes. Vacating a conviction erases the judicial record that a crime occurred, going beyond Trump’s pardons and commutations.
Blanche Has Praised the Administration’s Pardoning of January 6 Rioters. In March, Blanche praised January 6 insurrectionists during a Texas speech, telling the crowd: “If you look at what happened to the men and women convicted because of Jan. 6, by 5 p.m. on Jan. 20, every one of them was either pardoned or had their sentence commuted, OK? So when folks say you’ve done nothing, I say you have a very short memory.”
Blanche Oversaw the Termination of Hundreds of Employees Who Worked on January 6 Cases. Under Blanche’s leadership, the DOJ oversaw the termination of hundreds of employees who worked on January 6 cases, gutting the institutional knowledge built over years of prosecutions.
Under Blanche, the DOJ Deleted Press Releases About January 6 Defendants. During Blanche’s tenure, the DOJ deleted the vast majority of press releases about January 6 defendants from its official website, later dismissing them as “partisan propaganda,” erasing the public record of one of the most significant prosecutorial efforts in American history.
Blanche Oversaw the Hiring of Insurrection Sympathizers. Blanche hired Jared Wise, a senior DAG office advisor who was documented encouraging January 6th rioters to “kill” officers, to work on “weaponization” reviews. He selected Joseph diGenova, who once said a cybersecurity official who contradicted false pro-Trump election fraud claims should be “shot,” to lead a federal inquiry into Trump’s political opponents. In early June, Blanche hired Kurt Olsen, who helped Trump attempt to overturn the 2020 election, as a senior attorney handling January 6-related investigations.
Blanche Attempted To Establish A Nearly $1.8 Billion Fund to Compensate January 6 Defendants. In May, Blanche established a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to compensate “victims” of “weaponization and lawfare,” arising from a settlement where Trump dropped his IRS lawsuit. Blanche refused to rule out payouts to Jan. 6 defendants who assaulted police officers, and only dropped the fund after facing congressional pressure, while refusing to put that commitment in writing.