Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will confront questions about his tenure atop the Justice Department during a Senate confirmation hearing. Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, has run the department on an interim basis since April, accelerating investigations into Trump foes and alarming press freedom advocates with an aggressive pursuit of news media leaks.

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

Blanche will need the support of each Republican on the panel to advance his nomination. A particular focus is on Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who has said he won’t decide on Blanche’s nomination until after the hearing, and Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who has opted not to seek reelection.

Questions await about the $1.776 billion fund and the Epstein files. The fund, called the Anti-Weaponization Fund, created a rocky moment for Blanche. He initially defended it during congressional appearances only to reveal later that it was being scrapped.

Blanche will also face questioning over a separate element of the settlement that afforded Trump and members of his family protection from tax audits. Other testimony is likely to focus on Blanche’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, especially after his predecessor Pam Bondi told lawmakers behind closed doors that Blanche was the department’s point person on the release of documents from the sex trafficking case.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.