Blanche STORMS OFF as HEARING GOES SIDEWAYS!!!!

Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing for the Attorney General position involved intense scrutiny from Democratic senators, who questioned his impartiality, ethical conduct, and ties to Donald Trump. Blanche repeatedly deflected inquiries, claiming his actions were cleared by ethics officials, while senators challenged his involvement in Department of Justice (DOJ) decisions that appeared to benefit his former client.

• Hostile questioning — Blanche faced combative cross-examination from Democratic senators regarding his transition from Trump's defense attorney to a top DOJ official [00:43].

• Potential conflicts — Senators scrutinized his attendance at a dinner hosted by David Ellison, the head of a company undergoing a DOJ merger investigation [21:10].

  • Blanche denied discussing the investigation with attendees [21:37].
  • He insisted that all outside events were approved by ethics officials but failed to confirm the approval process for that event [23:06].

• Weaponization fund — Questions arose regarding a $10 billion lawsuit settlement and a fund that Blanche claimed was "dead" and not moving forward [10:44].

  • Senators pointed out that the settlement requires written agreements for any modifications [11:05].
  • Blanche admitted he did not have a copy of the agreement in front of him [10:56].

• Epstein case — Blanche claimed the DOJ found no evidence of Epstein trafficking women to other men, based on files gathered by career prosecutors [16:59].

  • He defended the transparency of the administration regarding the release of unredacted files [18:28].
  • He struggled to answer questions regarding Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer to a lower-security prison facility [20:04].

• DOJ integrity — Senator Schiff challenged Blanche on the firing of prosecutors who had previously investigated his former client [24:46].

  • Senators criticized the department's silence regarding alleged fraud on the court [07:15].
  • Blanche denied involvement in the decision to withhold the second volume of the special counsel's report [25:43].

• Departure — Blanche exited the hearing abruptly after being questioned about meeting with Epstein survivors [00:17].

• How are Department of Justice officials expected to manage conflicts of interest when attending outside events?

• What is the process for modifying formal settlement agreements involving the Department of Justice?