{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.welch.senate.gov/welch-grills-blanche-during-nomination-hearing-to-serve-as-attorney-general-todd-blanche-works-for-donald-trump-he-does-not-work-for-the-american-people/", "Welch\u00a0Grills\u00a0Blanche During\u00a0Nomination Hearing to Serve as Attorney General:\u00a0\u201cTodd Blanche works for Donald Trump. He does not work for the American people.\u201d", "2026-07-15", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "Senate", "VT", "Peter Welch", "W000800", "www.welch.senate.gov", "welch", "https://www.welch.senate.gov/category/press-release/page/", "scraper", "Welch pressed Trump\u2019s former personal attorney and Acting AG Todd Blanche on his conflicts of interest during tenure as Deputy AG\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, grilled Acting Attorney General (AG) and AG nominee Todd Blanche on his role in the Trump Administration\u2019s corruption of the pardon process at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and in negotiating a settlement between President Trump and the Internal Revenue Service. In his remarks, Senator Welch emphasized that Acting AG Blanche\u2019s demonstrated loyalty to President Trump\u2014his former client\u2014is prioritized ahead of the Americans he has been entrusted to serve.\n\n\u201cWe cannot have a Justice Department that makes prosecutions of American citizens\u2014whether they\u2019re in office or not\u2014on the basis of the political preferences of the president. Todd Blanche works for Donald Trump. He does not work for the American people,\u201d said Senator Welch at a press conference following the hearing.\n\nWatch Senator Welch\u2019s full remarks from the hearing below:\n\nRead and watch an excerpt from Senator Welch\u2019s exchange with Acting AG Blanche about his involvement in the settlement granting President Trump legal immunity and creating the anti-weaponization slush fund:\n\nSen. Welch: I mean, that is truly bizarre that the chief executive gets his appointed person\u2014who was formerly his personal attorney\u2014to negotiate on his behalf, where at the end of the day, taxpayers are going to pay.\n\nActing AG Blanche: The other thing I\u2019ll correct, though, is you used the word as if I negotiated. I wasn\u2019t part of the negotiation, which I\u2019ve said before.\n\nSen. Welch: Your department is\u2014you had to sign off on it. That is your signature.\n\nActing AG Blanche: Yes, that\u2019s true. Yes, that is my signature.\n\nSen. Welch: I mean, look: you\u2019re at the top of the pile here. So, you don\u2019t get involved in all the phone calls and all the details, but at the end of the day ,you have to do due diligence and satisfy yourself that you, in good faith, can sign off on the agreement. And you did. So that is your responsibility and I\u2019m sure you accept that.\n\nActing AG Blanche: Correct. Yes, oh I do have responsibility for it. I agree with that.\n\nSen. Welch: That\u2019s right.\n\n\u2022\u2022\u2022\n\nSenator Welch has called on Acting AG Blanche to resign and expressed strong opposition to Acting AG Blanche\u2019s nomination to serve in the role permanently.\n\nIn May, Senator Welch led all Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in demanding that the DOJ Inspector General (IG) launch an immediate, thorough, and quick investigation into President Trump\u2019s creation of the nearly $1.8 billion \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund,\u201d emphasizing how President Trump\u2019s slush fund, created from a settlement agreement in Trump v. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), represents waste, fraud, and abuse of an unprecedented magnitude and must be subjected to independent scrutiny.\n\nLast year, Senator Welch led Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee in requesting documents from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to determine the veracity of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his nomination hearing in February 2025. Mr. Blanche testified at the hearing and in subsequent written answers to Members\u2019 questions that he had no knowledge of the decision to dismiss the criminal charges against then-New York City Mayor Eric Adams, an assertion that has been contradicted by unsealed court documents\u2014including a letter from then-Interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon to Attorney General Bondi\u2014suggesting he was aware of the decision.\n\nThe Senator subsequently led every Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat in calling on Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate the truthfulness of Mr. Blanche\u2019s testimony at his confirmation hearing.\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-16T07:21:44Z", "2026-07-16T07:23:13Z"]], "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.welch.senate.gov/welch-grills-blanche-during-nomination-hearing-to-serve-as-attorney-general-todd-blanche-works-for-donald-trump-he-does-not-work-for-the-american-people/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3798449654132128, "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"}