By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche, faced tense bipartisan questioning at a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday about the rollout of the Epstein files and a settlement that gave the president sweeping tax immunity.
Blanche, the president’s former personal lawyer, was pressed by Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas about the Justice Department’s decision to settle Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service by creating a since-abandoned $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies for alleged prior government mistreatment along with an associated order shielding Trump and his family businesses from facing tax audits over prior conduct. Cornyn is undecided on supporting Blanche.
Blanche acknowledged that the fund, which drew fierce bipartisan criticism, has not been formally rescinded, but said Trump’s lawyers would have to go to court to enforce the settlement, something Blanche said they had no plans to do. He defended the tax portion of the deal as standard practice in IRS settlements, though tax experts have described the immunity for Trump as highly unusual.
Blanche in his opening statement touted his record reducing violent crime and combatting fraud in public benefits programs. He also defended efforts to correct what he described as past wrongdoing by the Biden administration, when the Justice Department brought two criminal prosecutions of Trump.
“In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public’s faith in justice,” Blanche said. “We are fixing that.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Republican Chuck Grassley in his opening statement praised Blanche for reducing violent crime while criticizing Democrats for trying to derail Blanche’s nomination. “They won’t talk about these successes,” Grassley said.
The Justice Department’s rollout of investigative files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Blanche oversaw as the DOJ’s second-in-command, was also a central topic of conversation. Advocates for Epstein’s victims have opposed Blanche over what they contend was a botched release of the files that exposed some victims’ identities.
Blanche took responsibility for mistakes in the release of the files and said the DOJ was prepared to investigate and prosecute criminal conduct by anyone else associated with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. But Blanche declined to commit to meeting with Epstein victims, saying others in the Justice Department and FBI were better positioned.
“If we learn today, if we learn next week, if we learn next month that there’s an individual that we can investigate, indict and prosecute out of the Epstein files, you better believe we will,” Blanche said.
CRITICISM OVER WEAPONIZATION FUND
Senators in Trump’s Republican Party lambasted Blanche over the “anti-weaponization fund” only weeks ago and the backlash sparked questions about whether Blanche could win support in a closely divided Senate.
The deal immediately drew allegations of self-dealing. A federal judge concluded on Monday that Trump and lawyers in his administration improperly used the case to benefit the president and his allies and referred lawyers involved, including Blanche, to state bar authorities to investigate any legal ethics violations.
Some Republicans on the Senate panel have remained noncommittal about supporting Blanche and their questioning could reveal any potential opposition in a Senate that has in recent weeks become more willing to defy Trump. However, Blanche allies and Republican insiders expect the acting attorney general to be confirmed.
Democrats have assailed Blanche, arguing that he has acted as Trump’s personal defender at the expense of protecting the public interest. More than 1,200 former DOJ staffers have signed a letter opposing him.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday after a meeting with Blanche, Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the attorney general nominee told him the weaponization fund was a “mistake” and he did not want to see it go forward.
“In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice, you have shown you are first and foremost, still President Trump’s personal attorney,” Durbin said on Wednesday.
Blanche, who defended Trump in three criminal cases he faced in his years out of power, took over as acting attorney general in April after Trump fired his predecessor, Pam Bondi.
Blanche, a former career prosecutor who some in the DOJ expected would be a moderating influence, has shown a willingness to deliver on Trump’s demands to prosecute adversaries. The DOJ has brought criminal cases against a prominent liberal civil rights group and former FBI Director James Comey over a photo of seashells prosecutors argue threatened Trump.
Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana asked Blanche if he and Trump were friends.
“I’m his lawyer,” Blanche said, before quickly correcting himself, “was his lawyer. Now, I’m the deputy attorney general.”
(Reporting by Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Andrew Goudsward. Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and David Morgan; Editing by Alistair Bell and Mark Porter)
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