Blanche's AG nomination moves ahead after delay

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday favorably reported Todd Blanche’s bid to be attorney general after some Republican senators delayed the vote over the Trump administration’s controversial “weaponization” fund.

Key GOP holdouts on the committee, Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voted in favor of advancing Blanche’s nomination after striking a deal to “rescind” the $1.8 billion compensation fund and rein in other aspects of the Internal Revenue Service settlement that created it.

“It’s done. It’s been rescinded, and I am satisfied,” Tillis said of the fund during the markup. “We got to a good outcome, and I appreciate Mr. Blanche working in good faith.”

The final vote was 12-10, with all Democrats opposed.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, said their concerns were “shared by many, including this senator.”

“When I got involved in it, I thought to myself, ‘It’s just common sense what Tillis and Cornyn are asking out of the executive branch of government,’ and I don’t think it should have taken as long as it did to get it resolved,” Grassley said during the markup. “It’s just a crime that it took so long to work out with such a common sense thing.”

Grassley added he has no qualms with Blanche himself and said the Justice Department has “thrived” while Blanche has been acting attorney general.

But Democrats argued the Justice Department’s written agreements are only “decorative” and do not ensure that the fund is really “done.”

“To state the obvious, Mr. Blanche’s statement on the slush front and the IRS immunity agreement are not signed by the parties of the settlement agreement and are therefore unenforceable,” said Senate Judiciary ranking member Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., during the markup. “The parties could still sue to enforce the agreement, and the cop-beaters fund can easily be revived … 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general.”

“We’ve got these two new pieces of paper, one signed only by Todd Blanche, one not signed by anybody, neither of which has any legal effect whatsoever,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. “They are decorative.”

Cornyn said after the markup that it’s “highly unlikely” the weaponization fund will be revived and that they did “the best we could given the circumstances” to narrow other aspects of the settlement that provided Donald Trump and his family tax audit immunity.

“Mr. Blanche gave us the assurances that it was dead, it would not be revived. And in this case, we have no alternative but to take his word for that,” Cornyn said. “The settlement agreement could not be changed without the signatures of the parties of the lawsuit, and that did not include Todd Blanche. What he did provide us was an interpretation of the language in a way that constrained and limited the application of [the audit immunity].”

Durbin added it was concerning that Cornyn and Tillis thought it necessary to get assurances from Blanche “in writing” even though Blanche made similar commitments under oath during his confirmation hearing last month.

“Even for some of my Republican friends, even his word under oath is not credible enough,” Durbin said during the markup. “The political escapade of the last week has made it clearer than ever that Todd Blanche has no business serving as our nation’s chief law enforcement officer.”

Whitehouse and other Democrats also criticized Blanche for his oversight of the release of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which they said wrongly revealed names and information of victims while redacting information related to abusers.

“Voting for this guy today gives their blessing to the screw-up, the botched release that even Pam Bondi pointed at Blanche as responsible for, and it gives the blessing to his continuing role in the cover-up of Epstein files,” Whitehouse said, referring to Trump’s former attorney general.

Blanche has served as the acting attorney general since April, when Trump ousted Bondi.

Blanche served as a paralegal and federal prosecutor within the Justice Department before going into private practice and eventually becoming one of Trump’s personal criminal defense attorneys.

Last March, the Senate first confirmed Blanche to serve as the deputy attorney general, who is generally responsible for day-to-day operations of the DOJ. At the time, no Republicans opposed his nomination.

Blanche’s confirmation bid now heads to the floor, where Senate Republicans are keen to move quickly on the nomination before they leave for August recess. Although the committee vote was a major hurdle for the nomination, the floor vote may not yet be fully secured.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., can only afford to lose a few Republican votes on the floor if all Democrats vote against Blanche. Cornyn said he had talked with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, who had appeared to be on the fence, adding “they’ll have to make their own decision on the floor.”

“There’s nothing we could do to rein in the president when he said he likes the fund and he wishes it still exists, but the fact of the matter [is] it’s dead, and that’s all we could do under these circumstances,” Cornyn said.

—Michael Macagnone contributed to this report.

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