Todd Blanche faces a high-stakes Senate confirmation hearing this week as he seeks to become attorney general, with his nomination hanging on the support of every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Blanche, who has served as acting attorney general since April, is expected to face sharp questions Wednesday over the Justice Department's investigations into Donald Trump's political opponents, its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and a controversial proposal tied to Trump's IRS lawsuit.
A former personal attorney to Trump during his New York hush money trial, Blanche is expected to face renewed scrutiny over whether he can lead the Justice Department independently of the president.
Democrats argue Blanche has operated more like Trump's personal lawyer than the nation's top law enforcement official, particularly as the department has stepped up investigations involving some of Trump's political adversaries since Pam Bondi's departure.
Blanche has repeatedly rejected claims the department has been politicized.
"There's not a whiff of political partisanship in what we're doing," he said in February.
He has also defended Trump's interest in Justice Department investigations, saying the president has the right—and "indeed it is his duty"—to call for investigations involving people or organizations he believes should be scrutinized.
When asked earlier this year about the possibility of becoming attorney general, Blanche said he would tell Trump: "Thank you very much. I love you, sir."
His comments about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol are also likely to come under renewed scrutiny.
Although Blanche has said he was not involved in Trump's clemency decisions and has stated that violence against law enforcement "should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," he later cited the Jan. 6 pardons as one of the administration's accomplishments during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
His confirmation could hinge on Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who previously said he would not support an attorney general nominee who equivocated about Jan. 6, though he has since indicated he has no concerns about Blanche's record.
Lawmakers are also expected to press Blanche over a now-abandoned $1.776 billion compensation fund that emerged from the settlement of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. The proposal was initially intended to compensate Trump allies who believed they had been unfairly targeted by the criminal justice system.
Blanche became the public face of the proposal before announcing it had been scrapped.
"We are not moving forward with the fund, period," he said.
Democrats are expected to question whether the idea could be revived. Tillis has separately criticized another IRS agreement granting Trump and his family immunity from audits, a deal that has also drawn questions from a federal judge.
Blanche is also expected to face tough questioning over the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
As deputy attorney general, he reportedly oversaw the release of the records, a rollout marred by redaction errors that exposed sensitive information. Lawmakers are also expected to ask about his unusual visit to a Florida prison to interview Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell before she was later transferred to a minimum-security facility.
With the recent death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republicans now hold an 11-10 edge on the Senate Judiciary Committee, leaving Blanche with virtually no room for defections if he hopes to advance to a full Senate vote.
