{"id":158640,"date":"2026-07-28T12:13:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T20:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/28\/todd-blanches-confirmation-is-being-held-up-by-todd-blanche\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T12:13:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T20:13:02","slug":"todd-blanches-confirmation-is-being-held-up-by-todd-blanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/28\/todd-blanches-confirmation-is-being-held-up-by-todd-blanche\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Is Being Held Up By\u2026 Todd Blanche"},"content":{"rendered":"

Todd Blanche has spent the better part of his confirmation process insisting that the $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund<\/a> \u2014 otherwise known as the Trump slush fun \u2014 is dead. He said so under sworn testimony. He privately told Senators Durbin and Blumenthal it was \u201ca mistake\u201d \u2026and then called them liars in his written responses<\/a> when they said so publicly. He told Judge Brinkema\u2019s court it wasn\u2019t going forward<\/a>, but refused to put that in writing when she asked him to, prompting a federal judge to open an inquiry into whether DOJ had committed fraud on the court.<\/p>\n

Now two Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee are asking Blanche to do the one thing he has consistently refused to do: put it in writing.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll recall Blanche personally created the Anti-Weaponization Fund earlier this year, drawing $1.8 billion from the Treasury\u2019s Judgment Fund to compensate people claiming they were wronged by the government, including January 6 rioters. The fund drew immediate bipartisan condemnation, not least because of its eligibility criteria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, both outgoing, both on the Judiciary Committee, both identified early as potential trouble votes<\/a>, said Monday they are not ready to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination unless he commits in writing that the slush fund is truly dead, and that the audit immunity provisions of the settlement don\u2019t extend beyond the original lawsuit or to future federal agency actions beyond the IRS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to get them to agree to, which is again what his sworn testimony was,\u201d Cornyn told reporters<\/a>. \u201cSo I don\u2019t know why they\u2019re so reluctant to do that when he\u2019s already sworn to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fair question! If Blanche testified under oath that the fund is dead, writing it down shouldn\u2019t be a problem. Unless, of course, there\u2019s a reason he doesn\u2019t want it in writing\u2026 which is precisely what Judge Brinkema concluded<\/a> when the DOJ refused to file a declaration under penalty of perjury confirming the fund wouldn\u2019t proceed. At the time, Blanche\u2019s response to being asked to put it in writing was: \u201cI\u2019m not committing to putting anything in writing. What would the purpose be?\u201d<\/p>\n

The purpose, as Cornyn is now explaining, is that words said in a confirmation hearing evaporate. Words in a signed document do not.<\/p>\n

Cornyn, who lost his primary to Trump-backed Ken Paxton earlier this year, made his position unambiguous: asked directly whether Blanche should count not on his vote Thursday without written commitments, he said \u201cThat is correct.\u201d Tillis echoed the same position, saying he too is waiting on written changes to the IRS settlement before committing his vote.<\/p>\n

This is, to be clear, a self-inflicted wound, and the wound keeps bleeding because Blanche won\u2019t close it. He could have put the fund\u2019s death in writing for Judge Brinkema. He could have put it in writing for Durbin and Blumenthal. He can put it in writing for Cornyn and Tillis right now. He won\u2019t or at least, he hasn\u2019t so far. At some point the question stops being about the slush fund and starts being about something more fundamental: if Todd Blanche won\u2019t commit to his own sworn testimony in writing, what exactly is his word worth?<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Strategy: Call Two Senate Judiciary Committee Members Liars<\/a>
A Former DOJ Lawyer Testified Against Todd Blanche. Then The Death Threats Started.<\/a>
Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump\u2019s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing<\/a>
DOJ Tries To End Slush Fund Suit By Telling Judge Brinkema To Get Bent. Fails.<\/a>
Todd Blanche Got The Attorney General Nomination. Getting Confirmed Is Another Matter.<\/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 Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Is Being Held Up By\u2026 Todd Blanche<\/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

Todd Blanche has spent the better part of his confirmation process insisting that the $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund<\/a> \u2014 otherwise known as the Trump slush fun \u2014 is dead. He said so under sworn testimony. He privately told Senators Durbin and Blumenthal it was \u201ca mistake\u201d \u2026and then called them liars in his written responses<\/a> when they said so publicly. He told Judge Brinkema\u2019s court it wasn\u2019t going forward<\/a>, but refused to put that in writing when she asked him to, prompting a federal judge to open an inquiry into whether DOJ had committed fraud on the court.<\/p>\n

Now two Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee are asking Blanche to do the one thing he has consistently refused to do: put it in writing.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll recall Blanche personally created the Anti-Weaponization Fund earlier this year, drawing $1.8 billion from the Treasury\u2019s Judgment Fund to compensate people claiming they were wronged by the government, including January 6 rioters. The fund drew immediate bipartisan condemnation, not least because of its eligibility criteria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, both outgoing, both on the Judiciary Committee, both identified early as potential trouble votes<\/a>, said Monday they are not ready to advance Blanche\u2019s nomination unless he commits in writing that the slush fund is truly dead, and that the audit immunity provisions of the settlement don\u2019t extend beyond the original lawsuit or to future federal agency actions beyond the IRS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to get them to agree to, which is again what his sworn testimony was,\u201d Cornyn told reporters<\/a>. \u201cSo I don\u2019t know why they\u2019re so reluctant to do that when he\u2019s already sworn to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fair question! If Blanche testified under oath that the fund is dead, writing it down shouldn\u2019t be a problem. Unless, of course, there\u2019s a reason he doesn\u2019t want it in writing\u2026 which is precisely what Judge Brinkema concluded<\/a> when the DOJ refused to file a declaration under penalty of perjury confirming the fund wouldn\u2019t proceed. At the time, Blanche\u2019s response to being asked to put it in writing was: \u201cI\u2019m not committing to putting anything in writing. What would the purpose be?\u201d<\/p>\n

The purpose, as Cornyn is now explaining, is that words said in a confirmation hearing evaporate. Words in a signed document do not.<\/p>\n

Cornyn, who lost his primary to Trump-backed Ken Paxton earlier this year, made his position unambiguous: asked directly whether Blanche should count not on his vote Thursday without written commitments, he said \u201cThat is correct.\u201d Tillis echoed the same position, saying he too is waiting on written changes to the IRS settlement before committing his vote.<\/p>\n

This is, to be clear, a self-inflicted wound, and the wound keeps bleeding because Blanche won\u2019t close it. He could have put the fund\u2019s death in writing for Judge Brinkema. He could have put it in writing for Durbin and Blumenthal. He can put it in writing for Cornyn and Tillis right now. He won\u2019t or at least, he hasn\u2019t so far. At some point the question stops being about the slush fund and starts being about something more fundamental: if Todd Blanche won\u2019t commit to his own sworn testimony in writing, what exactly is his word worth?<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation Strategy: Call Two Senate Judiciary Committee Members Liars<\/a>
A Former DOJ Lawyer Testified Against Todd Blanche. Then The Death Threats Started.<\/a>
Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump\u2019s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing<\/a>
DOJ Tries To End Slush Fund Suit By Telling Judge Brinkema To Get Bent. Fails.<\/a>
Todd Blanche Got The Attorney General Nomination. Getting Confirmed Is Another Matter.<\/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":"

Todd Blanche has spent the better part of his confirmation process insisting that the $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund \u2014 otherwise known as the Trump slush fun \u2014 is dead. He said so under sworn testimony. He privately told Senators Durbin and Blumenthal it was \u201ca mistake\u201d \u2026and then called them liars in his written responses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":158625,"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-158640","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-TG87s6.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158640","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=158640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}