‘Must not confirm Todd Blanche’: Rep. Crockett slams Acting AG for his close ties with Trump

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche was at the Capitol on Wednesday for the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing seeking the permanent post. While he has a lot of support from President Donald Trump and his aides, many believe that he does not deserve to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ). Among them is Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who believes Blanche played a crucial role in obstructing the Epstein files and that he would only serve Trump if confirmed.

"The Senate must not confirm Todd Blanche," she said while speaking to reporters. "Todd Blanche specifically walked into the Senate today and proudly said that he is the President's personal attorney.  When you become the U.S. Attorney, when you walk into a courtroom, whether you are the U.S. Attorney or if you are an assistant, you walk in, and you either say the government is ready to proceed or you say the people, or you say the United States. You don't say, Donald Trump."

The U.S. Representative's comments referred to a moment during the confirmation hearing when Blanche was being questioned by GOP Senator John Kennedy. Sen. Kennedy asked the Acting AG if he and President Trump were friends. "I'm his lawyer," he said mistakenly before correcting himself. "Was his lawyer, and now I am the Deputy Attorney General. I met him as his criminal defense attorney. I am not sure that there are many people who have ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend."

Rep. Crockett is the only U.S. member of Congress to have accused Blanche of being President Trump's personal attorney. Sen. Dick Durbin did the same during the confirmation hearing. "In less than 18 months at the DOJ, you have shown that you are still President Trump's personal attorney.  Your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said -- 'I love you, sir' to President Trump," he said. The Illinois Senator was referring to a press conference in which Blanche had said it in April.

"This nation deserves an attorney general who loves the Constitution more than any single president, an attorney general focused on keeping America safe, and combating corruption. Not satisfying the President's personal grievances," he added. Blanche was questioned by Durbin and others about a number of decisions that seemingly favor the President, his family, or his businesses. One of them was awarding a settlement to Trump in his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

As far as the Epstein files are concerned, survivors have urged the Senate not to appoint him as Attorney General over his handling of the files. Despite there being a court order seeking full transparency, the DOJ has yet to release approximately 3 million documents. Among the ones that they have released, names and information of victims, which were supposed to remain a secret, were revealed. Epstein survivor Dani Bensky believes that such actions have "destroyed" public trust in the Justice Department.

"According to public reporting, Mr. Blanche spent approximately nine hours meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell, he did not even spend nine minutes meeting with a survivor," she said, before claiming that Maxwell was then transferred to a "summer camp prison." "We need an AG committed to ensuring that everyone who facilitated Epstein's crimes is held accountable," Bensky added.