Durbin accuses Todd Blanche of lying under oath to avoid ‘offending’ Trump
Washington Examiner · RC · trust 68/100
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee , accused Todd Blanche of perjury Tuesday as Republicans prepared to advance his nomination for attorney general.
Durbin said in opening remarks that Blanche contradicted himself last month, when he appeared before the panel for his confirmation hearing.
At that hearing, Blanche denied calling the Justice Department’s now-defunct anti-weaponization fund a “mistake,” an admission Durbin claims he made in a private meeting with his office.
“Mr. Blanche’s willingness to casually lie under oath about a statement he made in a room full of witnesses shows the lengths he will go to avoid offending President Trump,” Durbin said , telling members of the Judiciary Committee that Blanche has “no business” becoming Trump’s attorney general.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
The comments were part of a 10-minute speech in which Durbin painted Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, as blindly loyal to the president and sought to undermine a deal two Republicans on the committee struck to ensure the fund won’t be moving forward.
Durbin joined all other Democrats to oppose Blanche’s nomination, but it advanced 12-10 in a party-line vote, easing his path to confirmation before the full Senate as soon as this week.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), one of the committee’s swing votes, defended his deal with Blanche at Tuesday’s meeting, arguing that he and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) “did the best we could given the circumstances.”
Both Republicans withheld their votes for Blanche’s nomination until the Justice Department put in writing that the fund, controversial due to its expected payouts to Jan. 6 defendants, was defunct. Blanche also reiterated to the senators that a May settlement giving Trump immunity from tax audits was limited in scope.
Democrats argue that Trump will revive the fund once Blanche is confirmed.
Kaelan Deese contributed to this report.
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