Republican presses Blanche on Trump-IRS settlement at Senate hearing
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.
Highlights:
- Blanche faces questions on 'weaponization' fund and Epstein files
- Some Republicans remain undecided on former Trump lawyer
- More than 1,200 former DOJ staffers signed a letter opposing Blanche
President Donald Trump's attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche, faced tense bipartisan questioning at a US 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.
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Blanche acknowledged that the fund, which drew fierce bipartisan criticism, has not been formally rescinded, but said Trump's lawyers would have to go to court to enforce the settlement, something Blanche said they had no plans to do.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.
Cornyn told reporters during a hearing break that Blanche's answers did not assuage his concerns about the fund and did not yet get him to a yes vote. He said he would wait to make a decision until he has to make a vote.
"The argument was that the weaponization fund was dead," he said. "What he confirmed is that it's not." He added: "I continue to have some concerns."
Blanche in his opening statement touted his record reducing violent crime and combating 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 questioning. 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.
