Todd Blanche, the nominee for US attorney general, faced hours of questioning from the Senate Judiciary Committee. He acknowledged errors in the department’s vetting of the Epstein files but defended his handling of the case.

Confirmation Path Uncertain

Blanche’s path to confirmation is uncertain, with just one Republican no vote potentially derailing his nomination. The fate of his nomination hinges on two Republican senators: John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Both senators have expressed concerns about the Justice Department’s earlier proposal of a nearly $1.8 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund, which Blanche has said is ‘dead.’ Cornyn recently lost the Republican primary in his state to a Trump-backed rival, while Tillis announced last year that he would not seek reelection.

The committee will hear from several witnesses on Thursday, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft, Jon Adler, the president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Foundation, and Jennifer Bos, the mother of an Illinois woman whose body was allegedly abused by an illegal immigrant.

Democrats on the committee will call Elizabeth Oyer, who had served as a career pardon lawyer at the Department of Justice before being fired by Blanche last year. Oyer claimed she was terminated because she refused to bow to pressure from Trump appointees who wanted her to restore the gun rights of actor Mel Gibson, which he lost after a 2011 state domestic violence conviction.

The committee will likely hold a vote on the nomination later this month.

Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.