Durbin Votes Against Todd Blanche To Be Deputy Attorney General
Durbin: We need a Deputy Attorney General who will bring independent thinking and a commitment to the rule of law back to the Justice Department. Mr. Blanche is not that person.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today voted against the nomination of Todd Blanche to be Deputy Attorney General. In a speech on the Senate floor ahead of Mr. Blanche’s confirmation vote, Durbin spoke about the weaponization of the justice system since President Trump took office and argued that Mr. Blanche will not provide the necessary independence to rein in the President or the army of allies he has installed at the Justice Department.
Mr. Blanche has served as President Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney since 2023. Although Durbin observed that nothing suggests that Mr. Blanche was unethical or unprofessional in this capacity, Durbin expressed concern that this representation calls Mr. Blanche’s independence into question. Notably, Mr. Blanche defended the President in the hush money prosecution brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, for which President Trump was convicted on 34 counts. He was also the President’s attorney during the criminal investigations pursued by Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding Trump’s mishandling of classified documents in Florida and Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C.
“That’s the day [January 6, 2021] a solemn constitutional proceeding was disrupted here in this Capitol, in this Senate chamber, by a mob of thugs who were egged on by President Trump to attack and trash the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the presidential election,” Durbin said. “At a rally before the attack on the Capitol, President Trump said ‘if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.’ And yet, in a court filing, Mr. Blanche argued, ‘Not a shred of evidence suggests President Trump called for any violence…in fact President Trump clearly and repeatedly called for ‘peaceful and patriotic’ assembly.’ There was nothing peaceful or patriotic about President Trump’s conduct that day. And the same goes for his supporters.”
Durbin continued, “One of President Trump’s first moves in office was to issue blanket pardons for all of the violent January 6 insurrectionists. When Mr. Blanche was asked at his hearing to condemn these actions, he repeatedly refused to do so. In fact, it appears he buys into the conspiracy theory that the FBI is actually responsible for the insurrection—in response to our questions, Mr. Blanche said that he does not believe the Inspector General’s finding that the FBI did not have any undercover employees at the Capitol on that day.”
Durbin went on to note that he was especially disappointed that Mr. Blanche refused to commit to not disclose the names of the FBI agents who worked on the cases of January 6 rioters, even though some of the rioters are already calling for retribution against these agents.
“This is extremely dangerous. We have seen these violent individuals, and we know that they are willing to dole out their own form of justice,” said Durbin. “They believe they are above the law because of the presidential pardon, and President Trump validated that belief with his full and unconditional pardons.”
Durbin concluded, “Since the President has taken office, we have already witnessed the weaponization of justice. Mr. Blanche will not provide the necessary independence to avoid that.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here for TV Stations.
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