'I'm his lawyer': Acting AG Blanche calls himself Trump's lawyer before correcting himself

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was in for a rough ride at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing—but he might have expected Democrats to be the ones giving him trouble. Instead, it was a Republican senator who caught him in an awkward slip. When Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana asked Blanche whether he was friends with President Trump, his response was swift but revealing: "I'm his lawyer. Was his lawyer."

The slip is notable because Blanche, who is in line to become the next Attorney General after the president fired Pam Bondi in April this year, has repeatedly been accused of using the Department of Justice (DOJ) to do Trump's bidding—whether dragging his feet on the Epstein files or targeting the president's political opponents. "...I met him as his criminal defense attorney. I'm not sure there's very many people who have ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend," Blanche asserted after his slip.

At this point, Kennedy reframed his question to ask whether the two men were enemies. "We are not enemies," Blanche asserted. Democrats seized on the moment to reiterate why he shouldn't be confirmed. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) was among those with a pointed reminder: "Blanche can't keep it straight. I said it once, I'll say it again: Acting AG Blanche isn't acting on behalf of the American people. He's ACTING like he's still Trump's personal lawyer," he wrote on X.

Kennedy wasn't the only Republican throwing curveballs at Blanche. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who has not confirmed his support for Blanche, pressed him about the DOJ's "unusual" decision to settle Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service with an "anti-weaponization" fund to compensate allies who claimed that Biden-era DOJ targeted them— along with an IRS audit exemption shielding Trump and his family businesses from scrutiny over past tax years.

Cornyn is undecided on supporting Blanche, and his vote is critical because Blanche requires the backing of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to advance his confirmation to the Senate floor. Democrats are expected to vote in unison against his nomination. With a narrow committee margin—11 Republicans to 10 Democrats following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham—losing even one Republican vote would block his nomination.

Blanche defended the deal, clarifying: "It's not moving forward." When pressed by ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Blanche said such an agreement is "typical" in settlements like that one. "And when we enter settlements like that... it doesn't make any of those individuals above the law," he said. Durbin also reiterated that Blanche was acting as Trump's personal attorney, not as the impartial head. "Your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said—'thank you, I love you, sir'—to President Trump," he said.