Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced a highly contentious five-hour confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee to become the permanent head of the Justice Department under President Donald Trump.
Because Blanche previously served as Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney, the hearing was intensely focused on his independence, ethical obligations, and several highly controversial DOJ actions during his interim tenure.
The major developments and points of friction during the proceedings include:
1. The $1.8 Billion “Anti-Weaponization” Slush Fund
- The Issue: Under Blanche, the DOJ had agreed to a settlement with Trump (resolving a lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns) that proposed a $1.8 billion fund to compensate individuals claiming they were unfairly targeted by the government. Critics—and even some Republicans—feared this would be used as a “slush fund” to financially reward convicted January 6 rioters.
- The Testimony: Blanche maintained that the fund is officially “dead” and is not moving forward. However, he drew bipartisan skepticism for refusing to put this commitment in writing under a formal sworn declaration, arguing that judges cannot legally compel Cabinet secretaries to do so.
2. The Trump-IRS Tax Immunity Deal
- The Issue: The same IRS settlement also included a highly unusual provision shielding President Trump, his sons, and their business entities from any future criminal prosecutions or audits regarding past tax claims. Just days prior, a federal judge called the deal an “improper” effort to manipulate the judicial process.
- The Testimony: Blanche defended the settlement, insisting that “nobody is above the law” and that he did not speak with Trump about the deal until after the DOJ had already decided the litigation was “dead”. He openly disagreed with the federal judge’s sharp rebuke.
3. Botched Release of Jeffrey Epstein Files
- The Issue: Under the Epstein Transparency Act, the DOJ recently released a massive trove of files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. However, the release was heavily criticized for failing to redact the personal information of several survivors, resulting in their names, details of abuse, and photos being exposed.
- The Testimony: Blanche took responsibility for the redaction errors, calling them “mistakes that were made,” but angered Democratic senators by refusing to commit to personally meeting with the survivors. Ranking Member Dick Durbin pointedly noted that Blanche found time for a nine-hour meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell in 2025, but wouldn’t commit 30 minutes to her victims.
4. Allegiance to the Rule of Law vs. Donald Trump
- The Issue: Lawmakers repeatedly pushed Blanche on whether he could run an independent Justice Department or if he would act simply as a “yes-man” to the President.
- The Testimony: When asked if Trump had ever asked him to break the law, Blanche responded, “Absolutely not.” He added that while he advises the President, he is not a “yes-man” and would resign rather than violate his oath to the Constitution. At one point, he accidentally referred to himself as Trump’s current lawyer before quickly correcting himself to “was his lawyer.”