{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hickenlooper.senate.gov/press_releases/hickenlooper-votes-no-on-todd-blanches-confirmation/", "Hickenlooper Votes NO on Todd Blanche\u2019s Confirmation", "2026-08-08", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "CO", "John W. Hickenlooper", "H000273", "www.hickenlooper.senate.gov", "hickenlooper", "https://www.hickenlooper.senate.gov/press/page/", "scraper", "Blanche has flip-flopped on giving taxpayer funds to election criminals like Tina Peters and J6 rioters\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper voted NO on the Senate confirmation vote of Todd Blanche, President Trump\u2019s nominee to serve as Attorney General of the United States.\n\n\u201cMr. Blanche will not be an impartial check on the President,\u201d said Hickenlooper earlier this week in a speech on the Senate floor. \u201cWe cannot allow a fox to guard the henhouse. We need an Attorney General who is loyal to the Constitution\u2014not to President Trump. Mr. Blanche is not that person.\u201d\n\nIn his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche has declared Trump\u2019s unprecedented $1.8 billion \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d as \u201cdead\u201d and rescinded the order setting up the anti-weaponization fund this week through a letter. However, the settlement\u2019s terms can be changed only via a written agreement from the Trump family and the government. On Saturday, Trump still supports the fund, saying: \u201cIt will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done.\u201d\n\nJanuary 6th insurrectionists who beat and killed police officers during the attack on the Capitol expect compensation from the fund, as well as election criminals like Tina Peters. Hickenlooper introduced an amendment to the last Republican reconciliation bill that would permanently stop Trump from giving a taxpayer-funded payout to Tina Peters, which Republicans blocked.\n\n\u201cFor months, Mr. Blanche has insisted the Department of Justice slush fund is dead. Yet as recently as this weekend, President Trump was saying the exact opposite,\u201d said Hickenlooper earlier this week in a speech on the Senate floor. \u201cSo when Mr. Blanche says the slush fund isn\u2019t moving forward, don\u2019t believe him. Not for one second. His word is worth about as much as the Trump meme coin.\u201d\n\nLast week on a private call hosted by the White House Faith Office, Blanche showed support for restricting medication abortion and said that he wants \u201cto get permanent solutions so the Dobbs decision becomes permanent in every single state.\u201d\n\nAfter the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Blanche as Deputy Attorney General led the disclosure of documents of survivors\u2019 names, photos and identifying information, but omitted the names of accused abusers and enablers. Blanche also enabled Trump\u2019s refusal to release the Epstein files until Congress forced the disclosure.\n\nFor a full video of Hickenlooper\u2019s remarks on Blanche\u2019s nomination earlier this week, click HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-08-12T06:18:38Z", "2026-08-12T06:20:33Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hickenlooper.senate.gov/press_releases/hickenlooper-votes-no-on-todd-blanches-confirmation/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5655700117349625, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}