AG nominee Todd Blanche says he's Trump's lawyer in slip at Senate confirmation hearing

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Jul 15, 2026

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Todd Blanche fueled widespread concerns about his lack of independence when he committed a gaffe by saying he represents President Trump during a stormy Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination to be U.S. attorney general.

“I’m his lawyer,” Blanche said, referring to Trump, before quickly correcting the “is” to “was.”

Slip or no, the remarks powered questions by Democrats and at least a couple of Republicans about whether Trump’s one-time personal lawyer is an appropriate choice to be the nation’s top prosecutor.

Blanche needs the votes of all the GOP lawmakers on the Judiciary Committee to advance his nomination to the full Senate, where Republicans hold a 53-47 edge.

Sen. John Cornyn, who is a lame duck after losing a Republican primary to a Trump-backed rival, and Sen. Thom Tillis, a sometime Trump critic who is retiring, are considered potential no votes.

Tillis sounded likely to support Blanche, saying “you work for somebody, and you’ve got to do what you’re told to do.”

Cornyn pressed Blanche for answers about Trump’s proposed $1.8 billion “weaponization fund” that could compensate Trump supporters who were convicted of storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, along with other cronies.

Blanche asserted that the fund was “moot” and “dead” but didn’t explain why neither he nor Trump has formally withdrawn the proposal, which still appears on the Justice Department’s website as part of a purported settlement of a $10 billion Trump suit against the Internal Revenue Service.

He nevertheless stood by the provisions in the same deal, which a federal judge derided as a self-dealing sham, that gives Trump, his companies, relatives and a potentially endless list of “associates” immunity from IRS probes or tax audits. The judge referred Blanche to a bar association disciplinary panel for ethical violations related to the case.

Blanche also rejected questions about the competence of FBI Director Kash Patel, who has been accused of corruption and waste, calling a Democratic senator “obnoxious” for detailing allegations of Patel’s misconduct.

Despite toeing Trump’s line on virtually every substantive issue, Blanche, a former prosecutor and defense lawyer, sought to claim he would not be a rubber stamp.

“Just because the president trusts my advice does not mean I’m a yes man,” Blanche said.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee’s top Democrat, noted that the attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the country, not a pliant employee of Trump.

“You have treated DOJ like President Trump’s personal law firm,” Durbin said, noting that the Trump administration’s Justice Department has violated dozens of court orders.

Blanche also dodged questions about his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein matter.

He refused to commit to meeting with victims of the late notorious sex trafficker even though he spent two days meeting with Epstein’s convicted lieutenant, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was later moved to a cushy prison camp.

Blanche has been serving as acting attorney general since his predecessor Pam Bondi was ousted amid Trump’s dissatisfaction over her inability to successfully prosecute some of his perceived political enemies.

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