Todd Blanche ‘honored’ to be confirmed as new attorney general after narrow Senate vote
The US Senate has narrowly confirmed Todd Blanche as attorney general, installing Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer as the nation’s top law enforcement official. Blanche was confirmed by a vote of 50-49 early on Saturday morning, with only two Republican senators – Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – having voted against him, joining all the chamber’s Democrats in opposing the nomination. He said he was “deeply honored” to be confirmed as the new attorney general, thanking Trump for the “trust and confidence” that has been placed in him. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who was among earlier Republican holdouts, cast the deciding vote in Blanche’s favor. Explaining his decision on the senate floor on Friday, he said: double quotation mark Mr Blanche is not perfect, and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between perfection and Mr Blanche. It is between Mr Blanche and another acting attorney general who may not run the department effectively under President Trump and who indeed may not be as good as Mr Blanche. Blanche has been serving as the acting attorney general since the president fired Pam Bondi, another Trump loyalist, in April. The US Senate confirmed Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Todd Blanche as attorney general early on Saturday. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters However, there was a lengthy delay to Blanche’s confirmation amid concerns he could use the department to go after Trump’s political adversaries as attorney general. Blanche faced pushback from Republican senators over the department’s deal to create a $1.8bn so-called “anti-weaponization fund” and to give the president, his sons, and business tax immunity, as my colleague notes in this story. “The attorney general is supposed to be the people’s lawyer,” Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate judiciary committee, said on Tuesday. “Mr Blanche continues to operate as the president’s personal lawyer, treating the justice department like a law firm serving one client: the president.” But despite these concerns, Blanche’s confirmation was narrowly confirmed after a late-night session ran over into the early hours of Saturday ahead of a planned five-week Senate recess. The Senate majority leader, John Thune, Trump and Senate conservatives reached a deal last night to postpone a vote on a budget resolution and defer action on a significant portion of the SAVE America Act until after the break. Trump had demanded that senators stay in session to pass a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill before the summer recess. Instead, Republican senators who had brought the chamber to a standstill spoke to Trump late in the evening about an alternative plan: they would try again to approve elements ofthe voting bill as part of a broader GOP budget package to fundthe Iran warand replenishthe Pentagon when they returnto workin September. Share Updated at 06.14 EDT Key eventsSenator Bill Cassidyof Louisianasaidhewasundecidedaboutwhethertovotetoconfirm Todd Blancheastheattorneygeneralaslateaslast Wednesday.“I’vegotto be convincedthatheisanattorneygeneralwhojusthappensontohaveoncebeen President Trump ’spersonalattorney , asopposedto President Trump ’spersonalattorneywhoisnowtheattorneygeneral,” hesaidinaradio interview.“Ithinkthere ’sabigdifferencebetweenthetwo. ”Inwhatwasamajorwinfor Donald Trump, Cassidysookininlinewiththepresident ’swishesashebrushedoffhisconcernsabout Blanche ’sindependenceandcastthedecidingvoteintheact ingattorneygeneral’ sfavour.Hereisavideoof Cassidy , whohashada strainedrelationshipwiththepresident , explaininghisvoteonthe Senateflooron Friday: Allowcontentprovidedbyathirdparty?Thisarticleincludescontenthostedonplatform. x. com. Weaskforyourpermissionbeforeanythingisloaded , astheprovidermaybeusingcookiesandothertechnologies. Toviewthiscontent , click ‘Allowandcontinue’.Share
Sam Levine
Todd Blanche faced heavy criticism for the department’s sloppy rollout of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, which redacted information that should not have been redacted and left unredacted names of victims that should have been kept private.
During his confirmation hearing, Blanche refused to personally meet with Epstein victims but later agreed. The survivors reported they received few answers from him during their meeting.
BLANCH , WHOLEFTALUCRATIVEPARTNERSHIPTO REPRESENTTRUMP IN2023, HASBEENATTHECENTEROFTH EPRESIDENT’SATTEMPTTOBENDTHEFEDERALGOVERNMENTTOHISWILL. SCORESOFCareer JUSTICEDEPARTMENTATTORNEYS HAVE LEFT THE AGENCYUNDER HIS LEADERSHIP. DEPARTMENTLAWYERS HAVE BEEN REBUKED BY JUDGES ACROSS THEUSFORMAKINGMISREPRESENTATIONSTOTHECOURT.
BLANCHE HAS ALSO BEEN AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S EFFORTS TO USE THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TO PUNISH POLITICAL RIVALS. DURING HISTERMIN AS BOTH THE DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL AND ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL, T HE DEPARTMENTHASINDICTEDFORMERFBIDIRECTORJAMESCOMEYTWICE NEWYORKATTORNEYGENERALETTITIAJAMES THENON-PROFITSOUTHERNPOVERTYLAWCENTER – ALL IN CASES THATEXERTSSEE AS THIN.
IT HAS ALSO TRIEDTOBRING CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST TWO DEMOCRATSENATORS ELISSASLOTKINOFMICHIGANANDMARKKELLYOFARIZONA ANDUSED ITSINVESTIGATIVEPOW ERSTOPRYTOGETLEVERAGEOVERJEROMEPOWELLTHEFORMERCHAIR OFTHEFEDERALRESERVE.
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