Blanche set to face harsh questioning at Senate confirmation hearing
CBS News · LC · trust 47/100
Updated on: July 14, 2026 / 12:53 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will appear Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing to take over the role on a permanent basis, where he is set to face tough questions about hot-button issues he has been involved in during his time at the Justice Department.
Democrats are expected to grill him over what they believe are politicized prosecutions, the department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his prior advocacy for a nearly $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund.
President Trump nominated Blanche , his former personal defense attorney, to lead the Justice Department last month following the ouster of Pam Bondi in early April. He has been acting in a temporary capacity since Bondi's firing.
While Republicans hold the majority of seats on the Judiciary panel, the party's margin narrowed with the unexpected death of Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina late Saturday. Graham was one of the most senior Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and a staunch defender of Blanche.
Most observers believe Blanche is likely to be narrowly confirmed by the GOP-led Senate. Still, he may face skeptical questions from some Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, namely Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
Cornyn, Tillis and other Republicans criticized a settlement between the IRS and Mr. Trump that resolved a civil lawsuit over the leak of the president's tax returns by a former government contractor.
That deal called for the creation of the new fund at the Justice Department to pay victims of so-called government "weaponization" and granted immunity to Mr. Trump, his two oldest sons, his company and related companies from future tax claims.
Amid bipartisan backlash, Blanche testified to a House committee last month that the department was scrapping the payout plan. His assertions, though, have done little to quell the fallout from the anti-weaponization program and broader settlement.
On Monday, a federal judge in Miami rebuked the Justice Department and sanctioned an attorney for Mr. Trump in the IRS case, finding the president pursued the lawsuit "for an improper purpose."
The ruling raised questions about whether Blanche and Stanley Woodward, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, violated ethical rules. It barred them from citing the provisions of the deal as evidence of a settlement in any formal court or government proceeding.
In a separate case, which challenges the legality of the Justice Department's fund, the Trump administration last month declined to submit to a court a sworn declaration from Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that reiterated the claim that the fund is defunct, calling the demand "unnecessary."
A hearing in the case is set to take place Wednesday in federal court in Virginia, while Blanche's confirmation hearing is unfolding.
Blanche reiterated to reporters last month that "the answer remains the same, that the anti-weaponization fund is dead, it's not coming back to life, it's not on life support, it never was really started."
Blanche served as deputy attorney general before Bondi's departure. During his time in that role, he oversaw the controversial indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who are frequent targets of Mr. Trump's ire. Both of the cases were dismissed after a federal judge determined the indictments were secured by an unlawfully appointed interim U.S. attorney. The Justice Department is appealing that decision.
Comey faces a separate legal battle after he was indicted in April for allegedly making threats against the president. He briefly shared an image on Instagram last year that showed seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers "86 47," which Mr. Trump said on Truth Social is a "mob term for 'kill him.'"
Legal experts and former federal prosecutors who spoke with CBS News in the wake of the indictment, however, were skeptical that the Justice Department can show Comey's speech is not covered by the First Amendment. Comey deleted the image from his social media account soon after it was posted and said he did not realize some associate the numbers with violence.
He has denied any wrongdoing and is set to appear in court for an arraignment in September. On Tuesday, his lawyers indicated in court filings they intend to challenge the prosecution as being both selective and vindictive.
In the criminal case brought against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last year and brought back to face human smuggling charges, a federal judge in Tennessee dismissed the indictment after concluding the prosecution was vindictive. The judge wrote that public comments from Blanche, as well as other factors, tainted the investigation into Abrego Garcia "with a vindictive motive."
Blanche also made numerous misstatements about the ongoing criminal prosecution against the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, including falsely claiming the case started during President Joe Biden's tenure. The investigation, however, was opened during Mr. Trump's first term, when Jeff Sessions was serving as attorney general. Blanche also incorrectly asserted that the nonprofit never shared intelligence about hate groups with law enforcement.
And his decision to personally interview Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's accomplice who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, sparked shock among former prosecutors who viewed his actions as improper and unethical.
Blanche met with Maxwell while an appeal of her criminal conviction on sex-trafficking charges was pending before the Supreme Court. Soon after the two met, Maxwell was transferred from a low-security federal correctional institute in Tallahassee, Florida, to a minimum security prison camp in Texas.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately…
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