Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, has aggressively pursued the president’s agenda since he took over on an interim basis in April. His nomination for attorney general has passed a key hurdle, advancing through the Senate Judiciary Committee vote after weeks of protest from Republicans.

Background

Blanche has pursued criminal actions against people and organizations the president has criticized, accelerated scrutiny into the government’s response to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, and launched — then discontinued — a nearly $1.8 billion plan intended to compensate people who believe they were wrongly targeted by the criminal justice system.

Blanche’s team and Sen. John Cornyn’s chief legal counsel went through contentious negotiations for several days to come up with specific language that Blanche could use to confirm that the deal was indeed dead. Lat Sunday night, Blanche announced a resolution, sharing two documents in a post on X, one a signed memo stating that the Justice Department was formally rescinding the order that established the anti-weaponization fund, and a second, unsigned statement clarifying the terms of the IRS protections.

Next Steps

Blanche now faces his final test to earn the job: earning the vote of nearly every Republican on the Senate floor. His confirmation would pave the way for reenergized Justice Department investigations, particularly those tied to the president’s political priorities and perceived foes.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.