A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump's former defense lawyer defended himself on Capitol Hill Wednesday. Todd Blanche, Trump's pick for attorney general, portrayed himself as independent from the president in a contentious confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
In a few minutes, we'll hear from one of the Democrats who questioned Blanche, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. But first, some context. Blanche needs nearly unanimous support from Republicans on the committee to get confirmed. And it's not yet clear he has that. Lawmakers honed in on Blanche's close ties to the president and whether he would serve Trump or the American people.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Carrie Johnson has been following the hearing. Carrie, I mean, no shortage of controversy at the DOJ over the past year and a half. And Todd Blanche has really been at the center of it. How did that come up in the hearing?
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: So lawmakers got a chance to ask Blanche about a lot of problems. He got questions about prosecutions against the president's political foes, about how DOJ botched the release of files about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and about a nearly $2 billion slush fund the administration tried to set up to pay alleged victims of weaponization. That includes people who stormed the Capitol on January 6.
MARTÍNEZ: How did Todd Blanche respond?
JOHNSON: Well, Todd Blanche basically said he's a creature of the Justice Department. He's worked there as an intern, a paralegal and a prosecutor. But Todd Blanche has really been dogged by questions about his relationship with President Trump. Blanche, of course, worked as Trump's personal lawyer for a couple of years, and Democrats say he's still serving Donald Trump instead of the Constitution. Then, under questioning, Blanche seemed to make a slip of the tongue. Here he is being questioned by Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana.
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JOHN KENNEDY: Are you and President Trump friends?
TODD BLANCHE: I'm his lawyer - was his lawyer. And now I'm the deputy attorney general.
JOHNSON: Blanche went on to say he's not a yes-man and that his time defending Trump should not define his long career.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Carrie, Democrats on the panel are trying to make the case against Blanche. How did they try to do that?
JOHNSON: Some of these senators actually worked inside the Justice Department earlier in their careers, so these issues are personal to them in a way. Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island used to be a U.S. attorney. Whitehouse talked about how DOJ has lost stature with judges and juries over the past year.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: Between judges appointed by every president harshly criticizing the department's work in your tenure, grand juries rejecting indictments, judicial findings of outright misconduct, this seems to be the most troubled Department of Justice in history.
JOHNSON: Todd Blanche says on his watch, DOJ has done a lot to prosecute violent crime and keep Americans safe.
MARTÍNEZ: So here's a wrinkle now, because after the death of Senator Lindsey Graham over the weekend, the Judiciary Committee is very closely divided now. So how do Todd Blanche's prospects look?
JOHNSON: That's true. There's one more day of hearings today that are going to feature witnesses arguing for and against Blanche's nomination. But safe to say most of the Republicans on the panel seemed inclined to support him. Senator John Cornyn of Texas is going to be critical. For now, Cornyn says he's undecided. Cornyn is worried about DOJ trying to resurrect that slush fund for January 6 rioters, which would use taxpayer dollars.
And he's worried about the broad grant of immunity the DOJ gave Trump and two of his sons for any past tax audits. This week, a judge in Florida blasted the Justice Department's approach there. The judge wrote, DOJ officials abdicated responsibility to zealously defend the interests of the U.S. in a sham deal that benefited Trump.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Carrie Johnson. Carrie, thank you.
JOHNSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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