Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Todd Blanche, admitted “mistakes” in his handling of the release of millions of files stemming from investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, which revealed survivors’ names.
“That doesn't excuse the mistakes of which I take responsibility but it does mean that we tried to fix them,” he told the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing. Later, he said “that any mistake that we made should not have been made, and I very much apologize.”
But the president’s former criminal defense attorney also said the Department of Justice and FBI “did not have evidence” that other men worked alongside him. “That doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen,” he said, “but that’s the body of work that we have to work with.”
He also came under fire for a controversial prison transfer for Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was moved to a lower-security facility within days after Blanche interviewed her last summer. No new charges were filed in any case as a result of that interview, he said.
Throughout the high-stakes hearing, Blanche also faced questions about an allegedly abandoned “slush fund” to benefit Trump’s allies and a plan approved by Blanche to shield the president and his family from IRS investigations.
Blanche, who has been serving in an acting capacity since Trump fired his predecessor Pam Bondi in April, is also under intense scrutiny for the administration’s retribution campaign against the president’s political enemies.
Key Points
- Blanche says Maxwell 'received threats' before her controversial prison transfer
- Blanche says DOJ does not have evidence other men involved in Epstein trafficking
- Blanche admits 'mistakes were made' in Epstein redactions revealing survivors' names
- Top Democrat says Blanche argued that it's up to Congress to try to eliminate the 'slush fund'
- Trump praises ‘phenomenal’ acting AG ahead of grilling
Vance tells Joe Rogan that the Trump administration ‘mishandled’ the release of the Epstein files
While Blanche was being grilled by members of Congress, an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience was published featuring Vice President JD Vance — who said his administration “mishandled” the release of millions of documents stemming from investigations into Jeffrey Epstein.
“If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty,” Vance told podcaster Joe Rogan. “We did mishandle it, especially the communications of it.”
Vance tells Joe Rogan that Trump administration ‘mishandled’ Epstein files release
What Todd Blanche accidentally revealed about Trump during his confirmation hearing
This was an absurd situation dressed up like a normal hearing, writes Holly Baxter. But some of the former Trump lawyer’s exchanges with senators were particularly eye-opening
What Todd Blanche accidentally revealed about Trump during his confirmation hearing
Epstein survivor Annie Farmer responds to Blanche's testimony
Annie Farmer, an Epstein survivor, said Blanche “has failed survivors at every turn” as she urged for senators to reject his nomination.
“He is overseeing an investigation that has repeatedly re-traumatized survivors, and has sought to bury the case even as questions remain unanswered about Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s vast network of enablers and supporters,” she added.
His suggestions that survivors should speak with the FBI is “beyond insulting,” she said.
“Blanche cannot rewrite history or pretend this investigation is over when the evidence shows otherwise,” Farmer added. “The Senate must not reward this record of failure, deception, and disregard for survivors. We urge the Senate not to confirm him.”
Blanche's hearing ends after five hours. He'll be back tomorrow
Todd Blanche faced roughly five hours of pointed questions from Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In a final bout with Sen. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat asked: “What happened to you, Todd Blanche?”
“Someone who sacrificed everything you believed in for that title,” he said. “A sad story … Seen people compromise themselves little by little and then a lot by a lot until they’re sitting before this committee and trying to justify the unjustifiable.”
Blanche, however, sought to justify his role at the Department of Justice despite his fervent support for president.
“You asked me what happened to Todd Blanche. I am still here. I am still the same exact person I was when I was at [Southern District of New York], which is do the right thing and try to keep communities safe.”
Under fire for signing a document granting sweeping immunity to Trump and his family from tax investigations, Blanche said “someone had to.”
“Someone had to sign that document when the president sued,” he said. “I tried to do the right thing.”
Blanche says he doesn't know who typed up Trump's IRS immunity deal
Under a fierce round of questions from Sen. Adam Schiff, Blanche admitted that he doesn’t know who wrote Trump’s IRS immunity deal that he signed.
“Did you write this language?” Schiff asked.
“But you put your name to it,” Schiff said. “So who wrote this?”
“I don’t know the person who actually typed it,” said Blanche. “This document would have been someone at the Department of Justice.”
The memo, signed by Blanche within weeks after he assumed the role of Acting Attorney General, includes a promise that the federal government won’t investigate potential claims against Trump, his family members or his companies over unpaid taxes.
The IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing “examinations” into Trump and “related or affiliated individuals,” including his family, trusts and “related companies, affiliates and subsidiaries,” the document says. The agreement applies to “tax returns filed before the effective date” of Monday’s settlement, according to the document.
Blanche defends subpoenas to New York Times journalists: 'They're material witnesses'
Blanche defended subpoenas to journalists at The New York Times after the newspaper reported on security concerns about the president’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One.
“They’re material witnesses,” just like “a material witness to a car crash,” Blanche said.
Sen. Peter Welch pressed him on whether investigators are “asking them to reveal their sources” in stark violation of long-standing policies to protect First Amendment rights.
Blanche says he wants to know “who provided them with classified, national security information, which everyone in this body should want to protect, I would hope.”
The White House’s rapid response X account shared the exchange with a “100” emoji.
.@DAGToddBlanche cooks @SenPeterWelch: "We’re not 'targeting' reporters. They're material witnesses... the question we want to ask them is who provided them with classified national security information—which everybody in this body should want to protect, I would hope." 💯 pic.twitter.com/UDzP7ClRRE
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 15, 2026
Epstein survivor pushes back on Blanche testimony
Marina Lacerda, an Epstein survivor, told The Independent that Blanche has “not met with any of us.”
”And today he was asked if he was going and was willing to meet with us, and he said it was illegal for him to meet with us without legal counsel,” he said. “Which I find it obnoxious.”
Blanche testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he is “prohibited from meeting directly with them.”
“I have met with counsel for survivors, as have many people in the Department of Justice,” he added. “But if they are represented by counsel, we will work with their counsel.”
Sen. Dick Durbin, the committee’s top Democrat, urged Blanche to “be in the room.”
“You ought to hear this. You have a singular responsibility for these files,” he told Blanche.
Marina Lacerda, an Epstein survivor, pushes back on Todd Blanche saying that he has met with survivors’ lawyers:
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) July 15, 2026
“That is absolutely not true. He has not met with any of us. And today he was asked if he was going and was willing to meet with us, and he said it was illegal for… pic.twitter.com/ZVadmuzcOV
Blanche says Maxwell 'received threats' before her controversial prison transfer
In a testy exchange with Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, Blanche said his controversial jailhouse interview with Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell did not lead to any new charges, and Blanche said he could not discuss whether any new investigations have been opened.
He also said he has not discussed a pardon or clemency for Maxwell.
But he appeared to defend Maxwell moving to a lower-security prison within days after Blanche’s interview last summer, a move that Booker said “seems clearly like a reward.”
Blanche said he “learned that she was receiving threats.”
At the end of a heated round of questions, Booker said “this isn’t a confirmation hearing, this is more of a performance review.”
“You’ve failed,” he said. “You’re asking this body for a promotion. … We don’t need your promises. We have your record.”
Blanche 'authorized' arrest of New Jersey mayor during ICE protest
Blanche says he personally “authorized” the arrest of Newark’s Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka during a protest outside an ICE detention facility in New Jersey last year.
Those charges were ultimately dropped by the office of then-Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, which aa federal judge called an “embarrassing retraction.”
Baraka’s “hasty arrest” followed by Habba’s dismissal of the charges two weeks later “suggests a worrying misstep by your office,” the judge said.
Blanche said he didn’t order the mayor’s arrest but “authorized” his arrest by ICE agents.
Tillis tells Blanche 'great job today' after grilling on slush fund
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, whose confirmation vote for Blanche appeared uncertain before Wednesday’s hearing, criticized Trump’s pardons for January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers and demanded to “stick a fork in this turkey” of a so-called “slush fund” for the president’s allies.
But he appeared to get Blanche’s assurance that the fund can be killed by Congress, and Blanche agreed that rioters who attacked cops “should have been prosecuted and were.”
“You’ve done a great job today,” Tillis told Blanche.
Tillis also urged the Trump administration to “ratchet things down” with politically motivated prosecutions, comparing them to the cases launched by the Biden administration, and to “stop this spiraling” into the same kind of “weaponized” Justice Department.
“This administration has done the same thing to justify some of their behavior,” according to Tillis.
The nearly $1.8 billion slush fund “should never be paid out,” he added.
“This is a problem,” he said. “Why should we waste the court’s capacity with this issue if I can walk to the floor … with [legislation] that just renders this whole thing dead, gone? … Can I get your commitment to maybe provide us on what that technical language will look like?”
Blanche doesn't say whether ICE agents can shoot into cars
Todd Blanche did not directly respond to questions about whether federal agents should fire their weapons into a vehicle unless the driver poses an “imminent threat.”
“There’s a well-established standard as to when an agent can discharge a firearm. That’s something that should be followed in every case,” Blanche said.
“It requires agents to follow the rules,” he said.
The questions from Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal follow ICE’s fatal shootings of two men behind the wheel in Maine and Texas, prompting Homeland Security to suspend the practice of traffic stops in immigration enforcement.
On Wednesday morning, Trump urged the agency to reverse that decision.
Trump defends traffic stops as ICE pauses them in the wake of two deadly shootings
Republican senator says Blanche's testimony confirms Trump's slush fund isn't dead
Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas says Blanche’s testimony effectively confirmed that the so-called “anti-weaponization” fund is still alive despite Blanche saying that the compensation fund for Trump’s allies is not moving forward.
“Well, I mean, the argument was that the weaponization fund is dead, and what he confirmed is that it's not,” he told The Independent during a break in the hearing.
“The settlement agreement can't be changed without written consent of the parties. There is no such written consent of the parties, and he admitted that it could be enforced as a matter of contract,” he said.
John Cornyn to me after his questioning Blanche about the IRS settlement
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) July 15, 2026
“I think it's really important to correct the record, which I tried to do, and I think he was straightforward in answering my questions, but but they don't they don't lead inevitably to the conclusion that… pic.twitter.com/6cIBp9dB0Z
Blanche defends Kash Patel after senator asks how long he will 'put up' with him
FBI Director Kash Patel facing several investigations from congressional Democrats over his alleged drinking habits and “misuse” of taxpayer funds while on official business.
“How long do you intend to put up with that Kash Patel character?” Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse asked Blanche on Wednesday.
“Are you sure he knows what he’s doing? Will you vouch for it?” he asked.
“That’s an extraordinarily obnoxious question,” Blanche responded. “I have full faith in Director Patel and the work that he’s doing every day.”
In April, Blanche appeared alongside Patel in a press conference to lambast reporters who pressed the nation’s top law enforcement officials about Patel’s alleged behavior.
Blanche says Trump is not eligible for third term in 2028
Donald Trump has not explicitly ruled out trying to seek a third term, which is barred by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment.
But asked by Democratic Sen. Chris Coons whether Trump can seek another term in 2028, Blanche said no.
“I don’t believe he is, no,” Blanche replied.
House Democrats hit back after Blanche ‘not aware’ of Tom Homan cash sting
Blanche says he is “not aware” about an alleged case involving White House border czar Tom Homan receiving $50,000 from undercover FBI agents posing as business executives.
The alleged operation appeared to reveal Homan agreed to help private firms win government contracts in a second Trump administration in exchange for a cash bribe.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee tried to jog Blanche’s memory.
Does this refresh your recollection? https://t.co/tuxYJV3HCN pic.twitter.com/Sqx4cG8G2o
— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) July 15, 2026
Blanche: ‘I’m his lawyer — was his lawyer’
Asked by Louisiana Senator John Neely Kennedy whether Blanche and Trump are “friends,” Blanche replied “I’m his lawyer” before quickly correcting himself.
But he didn’t suggest they are necessarily friends.
“I’m not sure there’s many people who ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend,” he said. “We’re not enemies at all.”
Asked if he ever disagreed with the president, Blanche said “yes.”
“Have you ever disagreed with him and he did it anyway?” Kennedy asked.
Blanche says DOJ does not have evidence other men involved in Epstein trafficking
Todd Blanche says the Justice Department did not “identify evidence” that Jeffrey Epstein worked with other men to traffic young women and girls.
“From what we know” based on “what’s in FBI files and what’s in DOJ files,” career prosecutors did identify “other participants” in Epstein’s crimes, but “we did not have evidence” that other men worked alongside him, according to Blanche.
“That doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen,” he said, “but that’s the body of work that we have to work with.”
Last month, members of a House committee separately investigating Epstein referred two other men for criminal prosecution after interviewing survivors.
House committee refers duo for criminal prosecution after Epstein survivor testimony
Blanche won't say if ICE will be deployed to polling sites
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar pressed Blanche on whether the administration intends to deploy federal immigration agents to polling sites in midterm elections, which civil rights groups and legal advocates warn is an unconstitutional threat to intimidate voters.
“I will commit to following the law,” Blanche said.
Pressed again, Blanche said: “I will absolutely follow the law no matter what it includes.”
“I’m not aware of that concern but I’m telling you we will follow the law, senator,” he added.
Republican senator grills Blanche over Trump slush fund and IRS settlement deal
Republican Senator John Cornyn pressed Todd Blanche on Trump’s “unusual” deal with the Justice Department and the IRS after the president sued his own administration for $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns.
The nearly $18 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund” for Trump’s allies was established after an alleged “settlement” between the president and his own administration in exchange for dropping the suit.
But the deal also shields Trump, his family and businesses from future tax investigation.
Blanche has said the fund is “not moving forward” after it was blocked in court.
But Trump “has not agreed in writing to delete” the fund, “and there's no guarantee that he or one of the other plaintiffs might raise that issue by way of a breach of contract lawsuit,” Cornyn said.
“I suppose they could bring a lawsuit and we would litigate … but there’s no fund,” Blanche replied.
Cornyn, a lame-duck senator from Texas, is likely not the only Republican on the panel who has tough questions for Blanche about the deal.
Blanche won't say if he supported Trump pardoning January 6 rioters
Blanche refused to say whether he supported Trump’s mass pardons for January 6 rioters.
“Do you think that blanket pardon of January 6 rioters was the right thing to do?” Durbin asked.
“I don’t question his authority,” Blanche said. “Under our constitution, President Trump just like President Biden has authority to pardon anyone for any federal crime.”
More than 1,500 people were criminally charged in connection with the riots, fueled by Trump’s false narrative that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen from him. Hundreds of defendants pleaded guilty, and more than 200 others were found guilty at trial.
Virtually all of them have received a pardon from the president on his first day in office.
Blanche admits 'mistakes were made' in Epstein redactions revealing survivors' names
Asked to respond to allegations that he mishandled the release of millions of files connected to Jeffrey Epstein, Blanche said the Justice Department was handed a “herculean task to review millions and millions of potentially responsive files” — and that “mistakes were made.”
“There were mistakes that were made,” Blanche said.
At least “1 percent of redactions had to be fixed after we released the Epstein files,” and the Justice Department “had dozens of lawyers on call whenever we learned that any victims’ names” were improperly revealed, he said.
“That doesn't excuse the mistakes of which I take responsibility but it does mean that we tried to fix them,” he said.
“We will never not talk to victims” and “we will never not prosecute anyone that committed crimes” against survivors, he said.
“That narrative is false,” he said, “Any victim if they are here today I would encourage them or their lawyers to meet with the FBI … There are no closed investigations.”
Durbin previews long list of questions for Blanche
In his lengthy opening statement, the committee’s top Democratic member, Dick Durbin, previewed a remarkable list of concerns among the panel’s Democratic members before Todd Blanche has even started his remarks.
Durbin said Blanche is participating in a “cover up of the Epstein files,” which Pam Bondi previously said Blanche was “in charge of.”
He also called on Blanche to produce any evidence that the “big lie” alleging the 2020 election was rigged against Donald Trump is “the truth or not the truth” after a series of judicial nominees refused to admit the president lost.
Durbin also said Blanche’s Justice Department “baselessly indicted” the Southern Poverty Law Center and launched a spurious case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, which a federal judge said was “marked by a retaliatory taint.”
Durbin also said Blanche has refused to produce the Justice Department’s memorandum on Qatar gifting a new Air Force One.
Blanche, who had previously testified that he would say “I love you, sir” if Trump nominated someone else for the top job at the DOJ, should love the constitution and the country “more than any single president,” Durbin said.
Top Democrat says Todd Blanche argued that it's up to Congress to try to eliminate the 'slush fund'
The committee’s top Democratic member, Dick Durbin, reprimanded Todd Blanche for signing off on the “weaponization fund” for Trump allies, which Durbin called a “slush fund to benefit January 6 cop beaters while immunizing President Trump from liability.”
“You’ve refused to rescind the order creating this fund. The order can still be found on the Justice Department’s office,” he said.
Durbin met with Blanche yesterday, but Durbin said “I didn’t quite understand your explanation” about the fund, which has largely been blocked in court.
“You said it was up to Congress to codify the elimination of the fund … I hope you’ll clarify,” he said.
Blanche also said a recent order sanctioning Trump’s legal team over the so-called “settlement” with the IRS was a “hit piece” on the acting attorney general, according to Durbin.
Lindsey Graham's desk covered in black cloth with white roses
The late Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly over the weekend, was a force on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
His desk on the panel is draped in black cloth with a vase of white roses as Blanche appears for his confirmation hearing.
Watch Todd Blanche's hearing live from The Independent
Blanche arrives for Senate confirmation hearing
Todd Blanche has arrived at the Senate Judiciary Committee, where chair Chuck Grassley is giving his opening remarks, to be followed by a statement from the committee’s top Democrat Dick Durbin.
Blanche will then deliver his opening statement.
Each senator on the panel will have 10 minutes to ask questions.
Top Dem investigating Epstein urges Senate to reject Todd Blanche
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is urging Senate Judiciary Committee leaders to reject Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general, saying he “failed” in his handling of the Epstein files.
“Todd Blanche’s failed handling of the Epstein files and his personal involvement in moving Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security prison raises serious concerns about whether he is working for the American people or just protecting Donald Trump,” Garcia said in a statement Wednesday.
“The Attorney General’ job is to uphold the rule of law, not serve as the President’s personal lawyer. Blanche is unfit for the role, which is why we’re calling on the Senate to reject his nomination,” he said.
In his letter to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dick Durbin, Garcia wrote that Blanche “oversaw and implemented the White House coverup of the Epstein files” more than any other figure, and he “continues to withhold millions of documents from Congress and the American people.”
“He released information which put Epstein’s survivors in danger, while the names of Epstein associates and accomplices were and remain withheld,” Garcia wrote to the committee chiefs.
“No nominee with his record” should be confirmed to lead the Department of Justice, Garcia says.
‘America needs an AG, not a Trump consigliere,’ say House Democrat
Looking ahead to Blanche’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the ranking member of the panel’s House counterpart, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, has published a 15-point fact sheet arguing against his candidacy for attorney general.
Raskin writes that Blanche “has continued to act as Trump’s defense attorney, using the Department of Justice to go after the president’s enemies and reward his cronies and foot soldiers.”
You can read his objections in full here.
Judge sanctions Trump lawyers over IRS ‘settlement’ in brutal takedown
A federal judge is sanctioning Donald Trump’s legal team after finding that the president filed a dubious lawsuit against his own IRS for the sole purpose of forcing a settlement that bailed out Trump and his family from tax investigations.
That agreement was signed off by Todd Blanche.
Judge sanctions Trump lawyers over IRS ‘settlement’ in brutal takedown
Watch: Epstein survivors call on senators to reject Blanche's candidacy
A group of women who survived Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse has released a video calling on senators to vote against Todd Blanche’s candidacy to become the next attorney general over his alleged mishandling of the Epstein files.
In the clip published by the campaign group World Without Exploitation, the survivors state that their identities and personal information were disclosed in the files against their wishes, saying their privacy had been compromised and their safety put at risk and appealing to senators to vote against Blanche, whom they hold responsible for the blunders.
“Todd Blanche had a duty to protect us,” they say in the clip. “Instead, he protected the people who committed crimes against us.”
The survivors also express scorn for Blanche’s claim that there are “no investigative leads” for the DOJ to follow up, despite what they characterize as “a mountain of evidence” being made available about Epstein and his network of wealthy co-conspirators.
“He failed victims everywhere,” they contend. “Vote no on Todd Blanche for attorney general.”
Todd Blanche ripped into Trump’s weaponization czar and directed key prosecutions of president’s enemies, emails show
Despite the president’s claim to the contrary, his AG nominee played a key role overseeing his so-called retribution campaign to target the president’s political enemies and investigate the prosecutors and officials who once investigated them, new emails show.
Blanche, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney and his nominee to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement official, assigned senior Department of Justice officials to oversee politically loaded investigations into former special counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the prosecution of January 6 rioters and the 2020 presidential election, emails show.
Todd Blanche directed key prosecutions of Trump’s enemies, emails show
Over 1,200 ex-DOJ workers beg Senate not to confirm Blanche saying he’s instilled ‘culture of fear’
More than 1,200 former Justice Department employees are calling on Senators to reject Todd Blanche as the next attorney general, saying he had instilled a “culture of fear” in the department.
Over 1,200 ex-DOJ employees accuse Todd Blanche of instilling ‘culture of fear’
Trump praises ‘phenomenal’ Blanche ahead of hearing
This is how President Donald Trump championed his nominee on Truth Social last night, claiming he had brought down violent crime and “ended the Weaponization of our Justice System,” which Senate Democrats may have something to say about later today:
“Todd Blanche is doing a PHENOMENAL job as Acting Attorney General of the United States. Under Todd’s incredible leadership at DOJ, Murder is down to the LOWEST level since 1900, and we just saw the biggest one year drop in RECORDED HISTORY. Violent Crime arrests are UP 100%. Robberies, Carjackings, and Assaults, are all CRASHING. More than 500 million deadly doses of Drugs have already been seized, saving countless innocent lives. This is what happens when you unleash LAW AND ORDER on our streets, instead of protecting vicious Criminal Thugs, and releasing dangerous Illegal Aliens into our Communities like the Dumocrats did for four disastrous years under Sleepy Joe Biden.
“Todd has fought hard for Religious Liberty, ended the Weaponization of our Justice System, protected FREE SPEECH, kept Men OUT of Women’s Sports, strengthened Election Integrity, and gone to all-out-WAR against Fraud like nobody in the History of the Department of Justice. He is tough, brilliant, and 100% LOYAL to our Constitution, and the American People.
“When the Corrupt Biden ‘Injustice’ Department and Radical Left Prosecutors tried to throw me in jail, and interfered in our Historic 2024 Presidential Campaign, Todd stood by my side and fought off the Lawfare. He is a great lawyer, always very fair, and every Republican Senator should vote to CONFIRM Todd Blanche, ASAP!”
New Mexico’s Epstein investigation is being obstructed by Trump’s DOJ, officials claim
New Mexico officials are accusing Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice of denying them access to documents connected to the federal government’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein as the state performs its own probe into the sex offender’s alleged crimes at his Zorro Ranch property.
New Mexico officials say Trump’s DOJ is obstructing state’s Epstein investigation
What to expect at today's confirmation hearing
Todd Blanche is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary committee at 9 a.m. ET.
His nomination hangs on the support of every Republican on the committee.
Todd Blanche faces grilling over Epstein files, Trump ties and Jan 6
Todd Blanche set for contentious confirmation hearing as he seeks attorney general role
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee as the panel weighs the prospect of advancing his candidacy for attorney general to a full Senate vote.
President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Pam Bondi, whom he fired in April, was previously deputy attorney general and has led the Department of Justice in an acting capacity since his predecessor’s departure.
Wednesday’s hearing is expected to be highly contentious, with Blanche grilled on his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and the DOJ’s alleged persecution of Trump’s political foes, among other hot button issues.