Blanche risks losing AG role over promise to grant Trump family tax immunity

Once thought to be a shoo-in, Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general is now in peril after his efforts to use his office to personally benefit the president began eroding support within Congress.

The Senate Judiciary Committee canceled a vote planned for Thursday to advance Blanche’s nomination over objections from a majority of its members. The main point of contention is the nearly $2 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund Blanche created for President Donald Trump, along with a provision barring the IRS from auditing any member of the Trump family or their businesses.

Though Blanche testified under oath that he had put an end to both, he has refused to provide a written rescission of the settlement agreement he filed with the courts in May. Until he does, the slush fund and tax immunity are legally still in effect.

“All I want them to do is to confirm what he said in his sworn testimony before the Judiciary Committee, with regard not only to the weaponization fund, but also who is protected from future audits and what agencies of the federal government are bound by the release,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters. “It’s pretty simple, and we’ve actually sent them a redline strikeout.”

Without Cornyn’s support, Blanche cannot advance out of the Judiciary Committee and would instead have to go through a lengthy procedural process before reaching the Senate floor. Trump responded by suggesting he might temporarily withdraw Blanche’s nomination until after the midterm elections in the hope that the incoming Congress will somehow be more willing to do his bidding than the current one.

Blanche’s refusal to end DOJ initiatives that personally benefit Trump mark a clear line between what he is and isn’t willing to do to keep his job. During his confirmation hearing earlier this month, Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) laid out two conditions Blanche would have to meet in order to secure their votes: shut down the slush fund and meet with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein.

He quickly fulfilled only one of those demands. A meeting with survivors was held that same day, but those in the room describe Blanche as disrespectful, condescending, and performative.

Jena-Lisa Jones, a survivor whose lawyers attended the meeting, told COURIER that no one left believing that Blanche had taken their concerns seriously. She said survivors repeatedly confronted him with information implicating their abusers, only for the acting attorney general to cut them off and tell them to report any tips to their local FBI office.

“Todd Blanche is unfit to serve as the highest position of law enforcement in this country,” said Dani Bensky, a survivor who also attended the meeting with Blanche. “He’s led the DOJ to protect perpetrators with absolute impunity, while exposing nude photos and all of our identifying information. He’s prioritized mitigating the president’s reputational harm by meeting in the White House’s Situation Room instead of following a single investigative lead.”

The bare minimum effort appears to have fallen short with Tillis as well. Though Tillis was initially appreciative toward Blanche for holding the meeting, the senator changed his tone after speaking directly with Benski on Wednesday, making clear that spoken assurances from Blanche are no longer going to cut it.

“I didn’t hear in there — I want to see — specific action items,” said Tillis. “And some of that may even have to do with the investigation.”

Benski, Jones, and other survivors have demanded that the DOJ reopen its investigation into Epstein and his co-conspirators, return convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to a maximum security prison, and offer restitution for the department’s failure to properly redact the Epstein Files.

This piece originally appeared in Below The Beltway.

Photo: Donald Trump and attorney Todd Blanche attend his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments. Trump was charged with — and later convicted on — 34 counts of falsifying business records, which prosecutors say was an effort to hide a potential sex scandal, both before and after the 2016 presidential election. (Photo by Mark Peterson-Pool/Getty Images)