{"id":158607,"date":"2026-07-28T09:08:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/28\/a-blanche-confirmation-hearing-witness-is-getting-death-threats-thanks-sens-hawley-and-schmitt\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T09:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:08:34","slug":"a-blanche-confirmation-hearing-witness-is-getting-death-threats-thanks-sens-hawley-and-schmitt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/28\/a-blanche-confirmation-hearing-witness-is-getting-death-threats-thanks-sens-hawley-and-schmitt\/","title":{"rendered":"A Blanche Confirmation Hearing Witness Is Getting Death Threats. Thanks, Sens. Hawley And Schmitt!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth Oyer spent 13 years as the pardoning attorney for the Department of Justice. Last week, she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about Todd Blanche\u2019s nomination for Attorney General, specifically that Blanche fired her after she refused to restore firearm rights for Mel Gibson<\/a>, a close friend of Donald Trump\u2019s. This week, she posted a YouTube video showing screenshots of her inbox. And you guys, it gets ugly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey everybody,\u201d she said in the video<\/a>. \u201cI started getting death threats after I testified against Todd Blanche last week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The emails include messages like \u201cDie in hell you pos,\u201d \u201cI hope you die tragically,\u201d and \u201cLet\u2019s hope somebody murders your family and gets clemency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is what Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt \u2014 both of Missouri, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee \u2014 chose to do with their hearing time: they did not ask Oyer a single question about Todd Blanche because why would you do the thing you\u2019re here to do. Instead, they drilled her on her recommendation to President Biden to commute 40 federal death sentences, confronting her with photos of victims of crimes committed by people whose sentences she recommended for commutation \u2014 note, not set free. \u201cTwo Republican senators with a political agenda rage-baited their followers into believing nasty and dangerous lies,\u201d Oyer said in her video.<\/p>\n

Hawley\u2019s response was unrepentant. \u201cThe people who were murdered, and devastated and raped by the criminals that she recommended that President Biden give clemency to, those folks are the real victims here,\u201d he told the Missourian<\/a>. \u201cI was proud to tell their stories.\u201d Schmitt\u2019s office called her clemency recommendations \u201cdisgraceful\u201d and \u201cso extreme that even Joe Biden\u2019s autopen handlers couldn\u2019t stomach them.\u201d Neither addressed the death threats, because personal accountability is for chumps.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been tracking this pattern for two years \u2014 administration officials target someone publicly, the MAGA faithful take the bait, and the threats follow. It started with federal judges who ruled against the administration<\/a> and lower court judges whose threats don\u2019t generate headlines the way a SCOTUS swatting attempt does<\/a>. Between May 2024 and March 2025, threats against judges increased a staggering 327% \u2014 241 threats against 202 judges<\/a> in 2026 (through March) alone! Now it\u2019s reached a former DOJ attorney who had the temerity to testify before Congress against a MAGA candidate.<\/p>\n

What Hawley and Schmitt did at that hearing was not incidental. The confirmation hearing for Todd Blanche \u2014 a man who called two senators liars in his written responses<\/a>, who introduced himself as Trump\u2019s lawyer<\/a> at his own confirmation hearing, who got a fact wrong and was corrected on the spot by a senator<\/a>, and whose former SDNY colleagues won\u2019t vouch for him anymore<\/a> \u2014 became a vehicle for two senators to perform for their base at the expense of a witness who came to testify in good faith. The death threats were the predictable result. Oyer\u2019s inbox is what it looks like when the rage-bait works.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Strategy: Call Two Senate Judiciary Committee Members Liars<\/a>
Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump\u2019s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Former SDNY Colleagues Vouched For Him Last Year. They Won\u2019t Make That Mistake Again.<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Hearing Just Got More Complicated<\/a>
Former DOJ Prosecutors To Senate: Blanche Took The Same Oath We Did. But He Didn\u2019t Keep It.<\/a>
DOJ Attorney Says She Lost Her Job Because She Wouldn\u2019t Let Mel Gibson Get A Pew Pew<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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 A Blanche Confirmation Hearing Witness Is Getting Death Threats. Thanks, Sens. Hawley And Schmitt!<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by Nathan Posner\/Anadolu via Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Elizabeth Oyer spent 13 years as the pardoning attorney for the Department of Justice. Last week, she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about Todd Blanche\u2019s nomination for Attorney General, specifically that Blanche fired her after she refused to restore firearm rights for Mel Gibson<\/a>, a close friend of Donald Trump\u2019s. This week, she posted a YouTube video showing screenshots of her inbox. And you guys, it gets ugly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey everybody,\u201d she said in the video<\/a>. \u201cI started getting death threats after I testified against Todd Blanche last week.\u201d<\/p>\n

The emails include messages like \u201cDie in hell you pos,\u201d \u201cI hope you die tragically,\u201d and \u201cLet\u2019s hope somebody murders your family and gets clemency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is what Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt \u2014 both of Missouri, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee \u2014 chose to do with their hearing time: they did not ask Oyer a single question about Todd Blanche because why would you do the thing you\u2019re here to do. Instead, they drilled her on her recommendation to President Biden to commute 40 federal death sentences, confronting her with photos of victims of crimes committed by people whose sentences she recommended for commutation \u2014 note, not set free. \u201cTwo Republican senators with a political agenda rage-baited their followers into believing nasty and dangerous lies,\u201d Oyer said in her video.<\/p>\n

Hawley\u2019s response was unrepentant. \u201cThe people who were murdered, and devastated and raped by the criminals that she recommended that President Biden give clemency to, those folks are the real victims here,\u201d he told the Missourian<\/a>. \u201cI was proud to tell their stories.\u201d Schmitt\u2019s office called her clemency recommendations \u201cdisgraceful\u201d and \u201cso extreme that even Joe Biden\u2019s autopen handlers couldn\u2019t stomach them.\u201d Neither addressed the death threats, because personal accountability is for chumps.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been tracking this pattern for two years \u2014 administration officials target someone publicly, the MAGA faithful take the bait, and the threats follow. It started with federal judges who ruled against the administration<\/a> and lower court judges whose threats don\u2019t generate headlines the way a SCOTUS swatting attempt does<\/a>. Between May 2024 and March 2025, threats against judges increased a staggering 327% \u2014 241 threats against 202 judges<\/a> in 2026 (through March) alone! Now it\u2019s reached a former DOJ attorney who had the temerity to testify before Congress against a MAGA candidate.<\/p>\n

What Hawley and Schmitt did at that hearing was not incidental. The confirmation hearing for Todd Blanche \u2014 a man who called two senators liars in his written responses<\/a>, who introduced himself as Trump\u2019s lawyer<\/a> at his own confirmation hearing, who got a fact wrong and was corrected on the spot by a senator<\/a>, and whose former SDNY colleagues won\u2019t vouch for him anymore<\/a> \u2014 became a vehicle for two senators to perform for their base at the expense of a witness who came to testify in good faith. The death threats were the predictable result. Oyer\u2019s inbox is what it looks like when the rage-bait works.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Strategy: Call Two Senate Judiciary Committee Members Liars<\/a>
Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump\u2019s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Former SDNY Colleagues Vouched For Him Last Year. They Won\u2019t Make That Mistake Again.<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Hearing Just Got More Complicated<\/a>
Former DOJ Prosecutors To Senate: Blanche Took The Same Oath We Did. But He Didn\u2019t Keep It.<\/a>
DOJ Attorney Says She Lost Her Job Because She Wouldn\u2019t Let Mel Gibson Get A Pew Pew<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"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><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth Oyer spent 13 years as the pardoning attorney for the Department of Justice. Last week, she testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about Todd Blanche\u2019s nomination for Attorney General, specifically that Blanche fired her after she refused to restore firearm rights for Mel Gibson, a close friend of Donald Trump\u2019s. This week, she posted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":158495,"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-158607","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-K9s2CT.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158607","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=158607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}