00:00The Department of Justice has used taxpayer dollars to punish the President's adversaries,
00:06to reward his friends, and to pursue the President's personal vendettas.
00:12In a case that I'm very familiar with, the Constitution and to the rule of law, not to
00:18any one person, even the President of the United States.
00:23But in this administration, the Attorney General and the Department of Justice are focused
00:29solely on pleasing one person, one man, no matter the cost, to our country.
00:36Lest anybody forget, huge banners, like the one displayed here, hang outside the Department
00:47of Justice.
00:49The front door, as pictured here, and the other entrance to the Department of Justice.
00:56Every single day, the folks who are supposed to uphold our Constitution and the rule of
01:02law walk beneath these banners, reminding them that in this administration, their loyalty
01:12is to Donald Trump, not to the people of the United States.
01:16And one of the people who does that every day, and who has demonstrated loyalty to the President
01:22over the Constitution, is the person whose nomination is pending on this floor today,
01:28to be the Attorney General.
01:30It is crystal clear, from Mr. Blanche's record as Acting Attorney General, and before that
01:37as Deputy Attorney General, that he is still acting like Donald Trump's personal lawyer,
01:43a position he held before going to the Justice Department.
01:49And his record has shown us very clearly that he will continue to put the President's personal
01:56interests above the interests of the American people.
02:01That when he walks through that door to the great Department of Justice that is supposed
02:08to serve justice for the American people, he looks up and he sees Donald Trump.
02:16He was formerly the personal lawyer to Donald Trump.
02:20And even now at the Justice Department, he continues to demonstrate that he puts the President's
02:26interests above those of the Constitution and the rule of law.
02:31The Department of Justice has used taxpayer dollars to punish the President's adversaries,
02:37to reward his friends, and to pursue the President's personal vendettas.
02:43In a case that I'm very familiar with, a federal judge found that Mr. Blanche's statements
02:49evidence about the Department's case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia showed clear evidence of a vindictive
02:56prosecution.
02:57In other words, the judge found that Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice brought a case
03:03against Kilmar Abrego Garcia in a federal court because he had exercised his due process
03:10rights, to punish him for exercising his rights.
03:14So that judge threw out those charges.
03:17Under Mr. Blanche's leadership, Department lawyers have resigned rather than participate
03:23in blatant prosecutions, like the prosecutions of James Comey and others.
03:30Career professional lawyers have resigned rather than participate in abuses of power, like the
03:39Department's criminal investigation against Renee Good's partner after the shooting in Minneapolis.
03:47instead of holding accountable or pursuing accountability for those who killed Renee Good.
03:54Think about that.
03:55This Department of Justice launched an investigation into the partner of Renee Good, who was shot
04:05and killed by DHS agents, instead of investigating the shooting itself.
04:15Again, to please the dear leader in the White House, not to uphold the rule of law.
04:20We also know that the Department of Justice has lost 10,000 employees since the beginning
04:28of fiscal year 2025, and nearly one quarter of its lawyers, lawyers who signed up to uphold
04:37the rule of law in the Constitution, not serve the dear leader, acting through the dear leader's
04:44former attorney, personal attorney, Todd Blanche.
04:48Now they're hiring prosecutors with no prior legal experience, and asking many of them to sign
04:56a pledge supporting not the Constitution, but the President of the United States.
05:03And we've seen how Mr. Blanche has acted as the President's personal lawyer since he's been
05:10at the Justice Department.
05:11We know, of course, of the outrageous $1.8 billion slush fund that was created to make payments
05:20to the President's political allies.
05:24When I asked Mr. Blanche at a hearing if those who assaulted police officers here on Capitol Hill
05:31on January 6th would be eligible for those payouts, taxpayer-funded payouts, he wouldn't rule it out.
05:39He wouldn't rule that out.
05:42And at the same time, he and the Department entered into a sweetheart settlement providing
05:48extraordinary tax liability protections to the President, his family, and his businesses.
05:56Essentially, a get-out-of-jail-free card for non-payment of taxes due if that was what had
06:03been ultimately found.
06:06And now, after Republican Senators, and only after Republican Senators, threatened to block
06:11his nomination, did Mr. Blanche issue an order supposedly rescinding the slush fund and narrowing
06:18the scope of those tax protections.
06:22By the way, even if you narrow the scope the way it's supposed to there, the President and his family
06:30essentially get a get-out-of-jail-free card for past tax liabilities that may be due.
06:35So this deal's a sham.
06:37It's not worth the paper it's written on.
06:41It's not written into the law.
06:42And nothing prevents the Department from restarting the slush fund once Mr. Blanche is confirmed.
06:48Now, that's not the only example of Mr. Blanche continuing to serve as the President's personal
06:58attorney while having the title of acting Attorney General.
07:02We also see that in his handling of the Epstein files.
07:07During his time at the Justice Department, Mr. Blanche has withheld critical information
07:14regarding those files rather than seek justice for the brave survivors who have shared their
07:20stories of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.
07:24When Mr. Blanche appeared before the Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing the Department of Justice,
07:33Senator Murray and I both asked him that if we connected him with the Epstein survivors, would
07:41he meet with them and hear them out?
07:44His answer, absolutely.
07:47He promised he would do so if we connected the survivors to him.
07:53Well, we followed up multiple times.
07:56Nearly two months later, he had not fulfilled the promise he made in that Senate committee
08:03hearing.
08:03He had still not met with the survivors.
08:07So, Senator Murray and I wrote him a letter demanding that he fulfill the promise he made.
08:14Because that should be a bare minimum for someone seeking this post.
08:19And it's pretty clear he had zero intent of keeping the promise made in public at that
08:26committee hearing until Senator Tillis said that he would not vote to move his nomination
08:31out of the committee until Mr. Blanche met with their survivors.
08:36After that threat was made, the meeting happened.
08:40But it was clear from reports about the meeting by the survivors that Mr. Blanche did not do
08:47so out of respect for them and out of a genuine interest to hear what they had to say, but
08:53simply to preserve chances of his confirmation.
08:59Because according to the survivors, it was nothing more than a check the box exercise.
09:05In fact, they said Mr. Blanche was condescending, that he was rude, and that he was dismissive.
09:11They were interrupted and told to, quote, get to the point, unquote.
09:16Well, Mr. President, someone who can tell the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's horrific crimes to, quote,
09:24get to the point is not a person we want defending the American people.
09:32Because a nominee for attorney general should demonstrate that their loyalty will be to the Constitution and the rule of
09:40law
09:40and getting justice for everybody in America, including the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes.
09:48Not to the President of the United States.
09:54So, Mr. President, I hope we will recognize that if we look at the conduct and actions and records of
10:01the acting attorney general,
10:04that we will recognize that he is not suited for this position because his record shows he has not been
10:10upholding the rule of law in the Constitution.
10:14Instead, he's been doing the business of this one man.
10:18This photo was taken today.
10:21It was taken today.
10:24These big banners of Donald Trump have been hanging outside the Department of Justice for a long time.
10:30And they send an unmistakable message to people who work inside that they better serve the interests of this one
10:39person.
10:40And if instead there's a conflict between the interests of the people of the United States and this person,
10:45this tells them, serve the interests of the President of the United States.
10:49That is not the job of the Department of Justice, and it is not the job of the Attorney General.
10:56I urge my colleagues to oppose the nomination of Todd Blanche to be Attorney General of the United States.
11:03And I yield the floor.
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