Blanche faces skeptical questions over fund, tax deal for Trump in Senate confirmation hearing

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced skeptical questions Wednesday during a Senate confirmation hearing on creating a fund to compensate President Donald Trump’s allies and a tax immunity deal for the president, as he sought to secure the Republican support needed to advance his nomination.

Blanche insisted that the $1.776 billion “Anti-Armament Fund,” which was eliminated after fierce bipartisan backlash, was “not moving forward.” But lawmakers, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn, have expressed concerns that the Trump administration has not yet committed in writing to the death of the fund and so it could be resurrected.

“To be clear, the President of the United States, who is a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to eliminate the ‘Arms Fund’ and there is no guarantee that he will not do so in the future? asked Cornyn. Blanche responded that Trump had no authority over the fund, which was to be administered by the Justice Department but was never launched.

Cornyn’s questions have been closely watched since Blanche needs the support of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and the Texas senator has not pledged his support.

The hearing came at a tumultuous time for the Justice Department, with mass layoffs and resignations gutting the workforce and Democrats and other critics sounding the alarm that Blanche still functions as the president’s personal lawyer.

He has led the department on an interim basis since April, serving as the public face of the maligned and then withdrawn fund and accelerating investigations into alleged Trump adversaries. Although he said the fund had been suspended, he made clear that the tax audit immunity granted to Trump this year remained in place.

Those actions, along with the erroneous release of records from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation, came under new scrutiny Wednesday.

“You’re running a Justice Department that I don’t know, you’re going after the president’s political enemies, you’re firing rank-and-file prosecutors and FBI agents,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware told Blanche. “These are actions that in your previous confirmation hearing before us you said you would not take. »

Blanche, for his part, insisted that he had presided over a change in course following the Justice Department’s investigations into Trump under the Biden administration.

“In recent years, we have seen the Justice Department turn against many of you and against a former president, and it has damaged the public’s trust in the justice system,” Blanche argued. “We’re fixing this.”

Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) Blanche will need the support of every Republican on the panel

Key to Blanche’s confirmation are Cornyn of Texas, who lost his primary in May, and Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who chose not to run again. As they enter the final stretch of their Senate careers, both are seen as more likely than before to part ways with Trump and both have been outspoken critics of the fund the Trump administration created to compensate people who feel unjustly persecuted by the criminal justice system, then quickly withdrew.

After asking Blanche about the fund, Cornyn told CNN that he continued “to have some concerns” and would not “make any decisions at this point.” Tillis, meanwhile, indicated during questioning that he would likely support Blanche, although he said he wanted to “put a fork in that turkey of a 1776 fund.”

With the death of South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats. If even one Republican member of the committee votes against Blanche, it could scuttle her nomination.

Blanche insists the fund is dead. Lawmakers aren’t so sure

The “Anti-Armament Fund” came about as part of a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.

Blanche initially defended the fund, only to reveal it was being phased out, a pushback that followed a fierce bipartisan backlash that erupted during a tense closed-door meeting he had with lawmakers.

The judge who presided over the case said in a scathing ruling Monday that Trump and his lawyers manipulated the justice system through the trial and subsequent settlement. The judge, Kathleen Williams, said she was troubled that Blanche signed the settlement given that he previously represented Trump. She sent a copy of her decision to the New York Bar Association, where an investigation is underway.

“I completely disagree with the judge’s insinuations about me, and we are going to do everything we can to fix it,” Blanche said.

Blanche also defended a separate element of the settlement that offered Trump and his family members protection from tax audits and which, he said, remains on track despite outrage even from Republicans. Blanche said the agreement covers all existing audits but does not protect the president from review of future tax returns.

“No one is above the law,” Blanche said. Such a regulation “does not place any of these people above the law”.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche takes the oath of office before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) Epstein’s files are also under scrutiny.

Other testimony focused on Blanche’s handling of the Epstein files, particularly after her predecessor, Pam Bondi, told lawmakers after her ouster as attorney general that Blanche was the department’s point person for releasing sex trafficking case documents to the late financier.

The staggered release was plagued by problems, including editorial errors that left nude photos showing the faces of potential victims. Some names, email addresses and other identifying information were not redacted or were not fully obscured. About 1% of the files had redactions that needed to be corrected, he said.

Blanche said that while “mistakes were made,” releasing the documents was an unprecedented exercise in transparency, even though the Justice Department only released additional files after Trump bowed to bipartisan pressure to sign a law requiring the department to do so.

“I want to make sure that the American people know that this administration, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, has been more transparent than any other administration,” he said.

A former federal prosecutor and key member of Trump’s defense team as the Republican fought four indictments, Blanche arrived at the Justice Department last year as an assistant attorney general. At one point, when friendly asked by Republican Senator John Kennedy whether he and Trump were friends, Blanche replied, “I’m his lawyer,” before quickly correcting herself to say that he “was his lawyer.”

He rose to that top job in April after Trump ousted Bondi, who had frustrated the White House by struggling to bring charges against Trump’s political opponents. Blanche has attempted to accommodate Trump in this regard, including indicting former FBI Director James Comey, another Trump adversary, for threatening the 47th president by posting a photograph of seashells in the numerical arrangement “86 47” on social media.

Comey said the numbers did not constitute a call for violence.

Blanche was also put under pressure over the violence of January 6

Tillis, who said he would not support the attorney general for anyone hesitant about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, denounced the Biden administration’s Justice Department for what he called excessive prosecutions and punishments.

Democrats, meanwhile, emphasized the violence and Trump’s pardon that benefited more than 1,500 people, including those convicted of violent attacks on police.

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse criticized Blanche for comments at a policy conference this year, during which he appeared to characterize the Jan. 6 pardons as an administrative success. Blanche responded that he “never said any form of violence against law enforcement was appropriate.”

“He has the absolute right to pardon anyone for any reason he sees fit,” Blanche said of the president. “I’m not celebrating that. It’s a fact.”

___

Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard and Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos