\u201cI\u2019m his lawyer \u2014 was his lawyer,\u201d Blanche said, before catching himself. \u201cAnd now I\u2019m the deputy attorney general.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pause between \u201cI\u2019m his lawyer\u201d and \u201cwas his lawyer\u201d did a lot of work. So did everything that came after it, \u201cI met him as his criminal defense attorney. I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s very many people who have ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
To be fair to Blanche, that last part is technically true! Criminal defense attorneys and their clients are not generally friends. Well\u2026 maybe mob lawyers<\/a>, they tend to be close<\/a> to their clients \u2014 something about the repeatability of the work. But the question wasn\u2019t about the nature of the attorney-client relationship. It was about Blanche, the man auditioning to be the nation\u2019s top law enforcement officer, and his dynamic with his boss. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a relationship that has been criticized for its sycophantic nature. That\u2019s the central concern that has animated the New York Times editorial board<\/a>, Senator Whitehouse<\/a>, hundreds of DOJ alumni<\/a>, and Blanche\u2019s own former SDNY colleagues<\/a> in opposing this nomination. It\u2019s what Blanche\u2019s former colleagues mean when they say they\u2019re \u201cdisgusted\u201d by Blanche\u2019s \u201cmajor transformation.\u201d He was a prosecutor once and he took an oath. But then he became Trump\u2019s lawyer, and apparently some part of him never stopped putting in the work for Trump as his personal sponsor.<\/p>\n Trump, for his part, posted on Truth Social yesterday that Blanche is \u201c100% LOYAL\u201d \u2014 which is a characterization that, in the context of Blanche\u2019s confirmation hearing for Attorney General of the United States, is doing a lot of heavy lifting\u2026 unfortunately for Blanche it\u2019s very much in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n The clip went predictably viral<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other moments from today\u2019s hearing people are talking about:<\/strong><\/p>\n *<\/strong> Blanche confidently gets a fact wrong, gets slapped down on the spot<\/strong> \u2014 Senator Hirono asked whether any of the 14 judges who ruled on DOJ\u2019s voter list lawsuits had sided with the government. Blanche said yes. Hirono said \u201cActually, that\u2019s not correct. The answer is no. Some of them were Trump appointees.\u201d<\/a> Under oath, at his own confirmation hearing. Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump\u2019s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Todd Blanche has spent the better part of his confirmation hearing trying to convince the Senate Judiciary Committee that he is the Attorney General of the United States, not Donald Trump\u2019s personal attorney. He is not making it easy on himself.<\/p>\n During an exchange <\/a>with Senator John Kennedy \u2014 who, it should be noted, was trying to help \u2014 Blanche was asked a simple question: \u201cAre you and President Trump friends?\u201d The answer that came out was not the answer anyone in the room was expecting.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m his lawyer \u2014 was his lawyer,\u201d Blanche said, before catching himself. \u201cAnd now I\u2019m the deputy attorney general.\u201d<\/p>\n The pause between \u201cI\u2019m his lawyer\u201d and \u201cwas his lawyer\u201d did a lot of work. So did everything that came after it, \u201cI met him as his criminal defense attorney. I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s very many people who have ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend.\u201d<\/p>\n To be fair to Blanche, that last part is technically true! Criminal defense attorneys and their clients are not generally friends. Well\u2026 maybe mob lawyers<\/a>, they tend to be close<\/a> to their clients \u2014 something about the repeatability of the work. But the question wasn\u2019t about the nature of the attorney-client relationship. It was about Blanche, the man auditioning to be the nation\u2019s top law enforcement officer, and his dynamic with his boss. <\/p>\n It\u2019s a relationship that has been criticized for its sycophantic nature. That\u2019s the central concern that has animated the New York Times editorial board<\/a>, Senator Whitehouse<\/a>, hundreds of DOJ alumni<\/a>, and Blanche\u2019s own former SDNY colleagues<\/a> in opposing this nomination. It\u2019s what Blanche\u2019s former colleagues mean when they say they\u2019re \u201cdisgusted\u201d by Blanche\u2019s \u201cmajor transformation.\u201d He was a prosecutor once and he took an oath. But then he became Trump\u2019s lawyer, and apparently some part of him never stopped putting in the work for Trump as his personal sponsor.<\/p>\n Trump, for his part, posted on Truth Social yesterday that Blanche is \u201c100% LOYAL\u201d \u2014 which is a characterization that, in the context of Blanche\u2019s confirmation hearing for Attorney General of the United States, is doing a lot of heavy lifting\u2026 unfortunately for Blanche it\u2019s very much in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n The clip went predictably viral<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other moments from today\u2019s hearing people are talking about:<\/strong><\/p>\n *<\/strong> Blanche confidently gets a fact wrong, gets slapped down on the spot<\/strong> \u2014 Senator Hirono asked whether any of the 14 judges who ruled on DOJ\u2019s voter list lawsuits had sided with the government. Blanche said yes. Hirono said \u201cActually, that\u2019s not correct. The answer is no. Some of them were Trump appointees.\u201d<\/a> Under oath, at his own confirmation hearing. Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump\u2019s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Todd Blanche has spent the better part of his confirmation hearing trying to convince the Senate Judiciary Committee that he is the Attorney General of the United States, not Donald Trump\u2019s personal attorney. He is not making it easy on himself. During an exchange with Senator John Kennedy \u2014 who, it should be noted, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":156873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-QN0MJD.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
*<\/strong> Blanche loses it at Booker<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cYou Won\u2019t Even Let Me Answer, Man!\u201d<\/a> The acting AG lost his composure during what was reportedly a tense exchange over DOJ independence.
*<\/strong> Blanche loses it at Durbin too<\/strong> \u2014 When Durbin pointed out that Congress had to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act because DOJ wouldn\u2019t hand over documents voluntarily, Blanche roared \u201cThat\u2019s not true!\u201d<\/a> It\u2019s a big claim to make under oath.
*<\/strong><\/strong> Adam Schiff asks the quiet part out loud<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cWhat happened to you, Todd Blanche?\u201d Joyce Vance had the best response<\/a>: \u201cPower doesn\u2019t corrupt as much as it reveals.\u201d
*<\/strong> Blanche admits the J6 pardons were \u201cvery generous\u201d<\/strong> \u2014 Senator Chris Coons was not pleased<\/a>: \u201cI consider it a shameful slap in the face for those convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers.\u201d
*<\/strong> John Kennedy asks if Jack Smith spied on his emails<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cWould You Check for Me?\u201d<\/a> Kennedy, who earlier lobbed Blanche the friend softball, pivoted to asking him to investigate his own email account. As one does.
*<\/strong> A GOP senator grills Blanche on the slush fund<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cThere\u2019s So Much That\u2019s Unusual About This.\u201d<\/a> Republican members aren\u2019t giving him a total pass.
*<\/strong> A key GOP senator says he\u2019s on the fence<\/strong> \u2014 After a tense exchange<\/a>, at least one Republican is publicly uncommitted. The math remains tight.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n
*<\/strong> Blanche loses it at Booker<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cYou Won\u2019t Even Let Me Answer, Man!\u201d<\/a> The acting AG lost his composure during what was reportedly a tense exchange over DOJ independence.
*<\/strong> Blanche loses it at Durbin too<\/strong> \u2014 When Durbin pointed out that Congress had to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act because DOJ wouldn\u2019t hand over documents voluntarily, Blanche roared \u201cThat\u2019s not true!\u201d<\/a> It\u2019s a big claim to make under oath.
*<\/strong><\/strong> Adam Schiff asks the quiet part out loud<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cWhat happened to you, Todd Blanche?\u201d Joyce Vance had the best response<\/a>: \u201cPower doesn\u2019t corrupt as much as it reveals.\u201d
*<\/strong> Blanche admits the J6 pardons were \u201cvery generous\u201d<\/strong> \u2014 Senator Chris Coons was not pleased<\/a>: \u201cI consider it a shameful slap in the face for those convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers.\u201d
*<\/strong> John Kennedy asks if Jack Smith spied on his emails<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cWould You Check for Me?\u201d<\/a> Kennedy, who earlier lobbed Blanche the friend softball, pivoted to asking him to investigate his own email account. As one does.
*<\/strong> A GOP senator grills Blanche on the slush fund<\/strong> \u2014 \u201cThere\u2019s So Much That\u2019s Unusual About This.\u201d<\/a> Republican members aren\u2019t giving him a total pass.
*<\/strong> A key GOP senator says he\u2019s on the fence<\/strong> \u2014 After a tense exchange<\/a>, at least one Republican is publicly uncommitted. The math remains tight.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n