WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination for Attorney General to the full Senate. Not a single Republican on the committee voted no, despite the nominee’s own written answers, sworn testimony, and Justice Department record showing he answers to Donald Trump, not the American people.
In response, the Not Above the Law coalition’s co-chairs – Lisa Gilbert, Co-President of Public Citizen; Praveen Fernandes, Vice President of the Constitutional Accountability Center; Kelsey Herbert, Campaign Director at MoveOn; and Brett Edkins, Managing Director for Policy and Political Affairs at Stand Up America – issued the following statement:
“Judiciary Committee Republicans had everything they needed to reject Todd Blanche, yet they voted to advance him anyway. He affirmed in writing that he believes the Justice Department ‘is not independent from the President.’ At his hearing, he slipped and called himself Trump’s lawyer before catching himself. His supposed fix for the $1.776 billion slush fund to January 6 insurrectionists is an unenforceable piece of paper that Trump never signed – despite that being a requirement for any changes to the fund – while keeping the tax shield for Trump and his sons intact. None of that moved Judiciary Republicans. Neither did his record on Epstein survivors, January 6, or ICE’s killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
“Todd Blanche has one client, and it’s not the American people. Committee Republicans just chose not to see it. The full Senate now has the final word, and every senator should use it to reject this nomination.”
Here’s what we heard from Committee Democrats today:
- Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): “Mr. Blanche has aided and abetted the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States.”
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI): Blanche is “probably the most discreditable person ever to seek the office of attorney general.” On his slush fund paperwork: “One signed only by Blanche, one not signed by anybody. Neither of which has any legal effect whatsoever. They are decorative. Can you trust Todd Blanche? I do not.”
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): “This document itself is a sham… Tomorrow, Donald Trump’s counsel can go to court and seek to establish that thug fund if he chooses to do so.”
- Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ): “It’s ridiculous, the corruption we’ve normalized in America… that a president’s children can go out and sit on boards and make money, that is wrong and that is corruption.” On the audit shield: “A known tax cheat will now have tax immunity. We should have stood in the way.”
- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN): “More than six months after Renee and Alex’s deaths, when I asked Acting AG Blanche if the department would finally fully cooperate with state law enforcement in these investigations, he said, ‘It depends on what full cooperation means.’… Minnesotans deserve transparency and accountability.”
For questions about our work to hold Trump accountable or to request an interview with a Not Above the Law coalition leader, please email press@focalpointstrategygroup.com.