Todd Blanche’s two-day confirmation hearing for Attorney General was, by any measure, an extraordinarily turbulent affair that drew sustained national attention.
The nominee introduced himself as Trump’s lawyer before catching himself, a slip that set an uneasy tone for the proceedings from the outset.
Senator Hirono corrected him on the spot after he confidently asserted that judges had sided with the DOJ on voter list lawsuits, when in fact they had not, including Trump appointees.
Blanche also visibly lost his composure during exchanges with both Senator Cory Booker and Senator Dick Durbin over the course of the two days.
Senator Adam Schiff posed what became one of the hearing’s most arresting questions, asking Blanche directly: “what happened to you, Todd Blanche?”
Now, in his written responses to questions for the record, Blanche is effectively calling two United States senators liars regarding the content of their private pre-hearing meetings.
Before the hearing, Blanche met privately with several senators, including Durbin and Senator Richard Blumenthal, to discuss his nomination and priorities.
When asked in his written follow-up about statements he allegedly made to Durbin regarding the nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, Blanche wrote: “I contest the accuracy of this statement.”
Durbin’s response was measured but pointed, stating: “I verified it with several of my staffers who were present. I stand by it.”
The senator also offered a sharp theory for why Blanche appeared to be walking back his private admission, saying simply: “That’s not proper MAGA talk.”
Blumenthal went further in his account, telling HuffPost: “He said it to me in my office. He acknowledged that it was a mistake. He said, basically, he took the blame for it.”
Blumenthal recalled Blanche even giving the fund a specific name during their private conversation, quoting him as saying: “It will be known as the Blanche Slush Fund.”
“He was taking responsibility for it. He was not proud of it, in other words,” Blumenthal said, underlining the contrast between the private and public positions.
The gap between what Blanche reportedly said in private and what he is now willing to commit to on the congressional record has become the defining feature of his confirmation.
His former colleagues at the Southern District of New York, who once regarded him as fundamentally decent, have since distanced themselves from the nominee they previously supported.
The episode illustrates the bind Blanche now finds himself in, where acknowledging a clear mistake in writing carries too high a political cost with the administration he serves.