Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche fielded questions before the Senate on Tuesday, a day after announcing an “Anti-Weaponization Fund” of almost $1.8 billion to pay out to victims of politicized lawfare.
He also tackled other questions in his first appearance before Congress since becoming acting attorney general after the ouster of Attorney General Pam Bondi last month, before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.
Here are four key topics from the hearing.
1. Anti-Weaponization Fund or ‘Slush Fund’?
Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, noted that the fund is part of a settlement from President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service for the “completely inappropriate leak of the president and his organization’s tax data.”
However, she seemed skeptical about the fund itself.
“Has the DOJ ever used amounts in the judgment fund to pay claims that have yet to be brought against the United States government based on the settlement of a completely unrelated case?” Collins asked.
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Blanche responded the Obama administration had an “almost identical in structure” fund from the Keepseagle settlement, in which Native American plaintiffs sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“This is unusual. That is true. But it is not unprecedented, and it was done to address years and years of weaponization,” Blanche said. “It’s not limited to the Biden weaponization. It’s not limited in any way, scope, or form to January 6th, or to Jack Smith.”
Democrats argued this is a “slush fund” for the president’s allies, including pardoned offenders at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. Several Democrats on the subcommittee asked if anyone who attacked police officers that day would be eligible for the money.
Blanche replied, “Anybody in this country is eligible to apply, if they believe they are a victim of weaponization.” But, he said, the five-member commission would decide if the claim was valid.
2. ‘Tier One’ Medicaid Fraud
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., brought up examples of Medicaid fraud that has occurred throughout California. He noted it’s not just California, but said for every $1 in California’s Medicaid program, the federal government spends $9.
Kennedy said California Medicaid will pay for housing, herbal medicines, in-home chefs, student loan repayments, and exorcisms.
“This is a tier one slush fund,” Kennedy said. “It’s been going on for years and years and years. Billions and hundreds of billions of dollars is stolen.”
Blanche replied, “Yes, Senator, and that’s why this department stood up a whole new fraud division and is prosecuting fraud because it’s so systematically taking money from the American taxpayer that we very much believe that it needs its own stand-up structure.”
3. Epstein Apology
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., sought an apology from Blanche for the release of names and sensitive personal information of sexual abuse victims from the Justice Department’s release of the files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a New York prison cell in August 2019 in what was determined to be a suicide.
“Your predecessor refused to apologize to those victims. But I want to give you the same opportunity to apologize for the way the department handled the release of these documents,” Murray said.
After some back-and-forth, Blanche said, “Of course,” in response to the question of an apology.
Murray kept demanding that she wanted to hear the word apology from him.
“I just said yes,” Blanche said. He then talked about how broad the law was requiring quick release of the Epstein files.
“What this act did is it required us to review over 6 million pieces of paper in a very short period of time, and so 0.001%, we made mistakes, and we owned up to them,” he said. “The second that a victim or their lawyer told us that we made a mistake.”
4. ‘Justice to be Done’ on Arctic Frost
Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., asked about the Arctic Frost investigation, which targeted President Donald Trump and his challenge to the 2020 election outcome. This investigation included gathering phone data on at least eight Republican senators, including Hagerty.
“They used this Arctic Frost to persecute the president and also go after his closest allies, including me, and I was shocked to find out last year that under President Biden, the DOJ had secretly obtained my phone records from Verizon, and even though Verizon was obligated to let me know that, they chose not to,” Hagerty said.
“It’s contemptible. It’s damning, but I think there may have been a real reason there. I want justice to be done,” he added.
Blanche replied the DOJ is working to ensure that never happens again.
“Understand that there are times when we subpoena phone records, we do not want the bad guys to know that we did,” Blanche said. “But the idea that that could be done to a United States senator, and that it would be OK for a prosecutor to just do it without even a scintilla of evidence, and then not provide notice is, in some ways, the worst form of abuse by the Department of Justice.”
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