Senate Republicans advance Todd Blanche nomination after ‘anti-weaponization’ fund holdup

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination after it had been delayed over concerns from two GOP members on the panel. Blanche’s path to confirmation had been on hold after Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — both of whom are leaving Congress in January — raised concerns about the “anti-weaponization” fund that the Trump administration tried to establish in May to give taxpayer-funded payments to Trump allies, potentially including Jan. 6 rioters the president pardoned on his first day back in office. Blanche said Sunday that he had reached a deal to amend the settlement that Cornyn and Tillis later said satisfied their concerns. Trump had recently defended the fund and said he would revive it if Blanche’s nomination was blocked. The nomination will now advance to a vote before the full Senate, where Republicans hold 53 seats. Kicking off Tuesday’s hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that the demands from Tillis and Cornyn about the IRS settlement were “common sense.” Speaking in front of the committee before the vote, Cornyn thanked Blanche for “being willing to work with us.” “I’m glad we could address these issues here in committee, so that this nomination can move forward,” he said. Blanche, who served on Trump’s legal defense team during his hush money trial, was confirmed as deputy attorney general last year. He was nominated for the top position after Trump fired Pam Bondi in April amid reports that he was frustrated with her for not pursuing legal action against his political foes more aggressively. The fund would have been established with a symbolic $1.776 billion in connection with a lawsuit Trump and his family members brought against the government he controls over the leak of his tax returns. Even with the carveouts in the Blanche documents that would block the “anti-weaponization” fund from moving forward, the Justice Department has ways to make payouts to Trump allies through the long-established Judgment Fund. Hundreds of pardoned Jan. 6 rioters have made claims against the government and it’s not clear how the Justice Department will handle those claims moving forward, even though the government would have an easy method to get them dismissed because they weren’t filed in a timely manner. The Justice Department moved to dismiss one of the lawsuits Monday. Democrats at Tuesday’s hearing also brought up the possibility that Trump could move to enforce the original settlement deal since only Blanche signed the order amending it. “To state the obvious, Mr. Blanche’s statement on the slush fund and the IRS immunity agreement are not signed by the parties to the settlement agreement and are therefore unenforceable,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat of the panel. “The parties could still sue to enforce the agreement, and the cop beaters fund can easily be revived with a new order from the Department of Justice 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general.” “Indeed, the president himself has loudly telegraphed that’s his plan,” Durbin added. Speaking to reporters during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, Trump said the anti-weaponization fund “is dead, but you know, I wish it weren’t.” During an Oval Office event Monday, Trump said that he viewed the fund “as a positive, and a lot of Republicans do too.” “These people were treated horribly, and this fund could have given them some solace,” the president added. He also noted that he “didn’t look at” Blanche’s agreement dissolving the fund. “All I know is that Todd Blanche is great,” he said. Durbin issued a warning to Republicans ahead of the vote Tuesday. “To my Republican colleagues, you gave Mr. Blanche the benefit of the doubt when you supported his nomination to be deputy attorney general,” Durbin said. “17 months later, there is no doubt where his loyalty will lie.”