WASHINGTON, United States, July 15, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - President Donald 
Trump's pick to be the next US attorney general -- his former defense lawyer 
Todd Blanche -- came in for tough questioning from Democrats at a fiery 
Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

"In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice you've shown you're 
still President Trump's personal attorney," Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking 
Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.

"This nation deserves an attorney general who loves the Constitution more 
than any single president," Durbin said. "An attorney general focused on 
keeping America safe and combating corruption, not satisfying the president's 
personal grievances."

Blanche, who has been acting attorney general since Pam Bondi was fired in 
April, defended his record, although he made a verbal flub when asked by 
Republican Senator John Kennedy if he and Trump were "friends."

"I'm his lawyer," Blanche replied, before correcting himself and saying he 
"was his lawyer."

Democratic senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Chris Coons took aim at Blanche 
over the firing of hundreds of career Department of Justice employees seen as 
insufficiently loyal to the Republican president.

"You've cleaned house of every attorney who worked on a case related to 
Trump," Whitehouse said.

"You're in charge of a Department of Justice I don't recognize -- prosecuting 
the president's political enemies and firing rank-and-file prosecutors and 
FBI agents because 
of the cases they were assigned to," Coons said.

Blanche pushed back, calling Whitehouse's questions "obnoxious" and accusing 
him of lying about his tenure at the department.

Blanche has been closely tied to what Democrats have dubbed a "retribution" 
campaign by the president against his perceived political enemies.

Former FBI director James Comey, an outspoken Trump critic, is among those 
who have been targeted by the Department of Justice under Blanche. Comey was 
indicted in April for allegedly threatening Trump's life in an Instagram 
post.

Blanche has also controversially defended a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization 
fund" to compensate Trump's political allies and a deal that shielded the 
president from audits of his past tax returns.

The administration has since dropped plans to create what Democrats denounced 
as a "slush fund" -- Blanche said it was "moot" -- and a federal judge on 
Monday voided the settlement with the Internal Revenue Service.

- 'Phenomenal job' -

Blanche has also come in for criticism from victims of Jeffrey Epstein over 
his handling of the release of investigative files about the convicted sex 
offender, a one-time close friend of Trump.

He said the Department of Justice would bring charges if evidence surfaced 
against anyone associated with Epstein.

"If we learn today, if we learn next week, if we learn next month that 
there's an individual that we can investigate, indict, and prosecute out of 
the Epstein files, you better believe it, we will," Blanche said.

Trump, in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, defended Blanche, saying he was 
doing a "phenomenal job" as acting attorney general and "every Republican 
senator" should vote to confirm him.

A sole Republican "no" vote on the panel could be enough to torpedo the 51-
year-old Blanche's appointment to be the chief law enforcement officer of the 
United States.

Republicans have a majority on the Senate panel but at least two Republicans 
-- Senator Thom Tillis, who is retiring, and Senator John Cornyn, who was 
defeated in a primary after Trump backed his opponent -- have expressed 
concerns about Blanche's appointment.

Prior to joining the Department of Justice last year, Blanche represented 
Trump in his New York trial over alleged "hush money" paid to porn star 
Stormy Daniels.

He was also on the legal defense team in two federal cases brought against 
Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith -- for allegedly mishandling classified 
documents and for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential 
election.

Both cases were dropped after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a speech on the Senate 
floor on Monday, urged fellow lawmakers to give a thumbs down to Blanche's 
nomination.

Blanche's "number one client" has been Trump, Schumer said, but "as attorney 
general, your number one client should be the United States of America."