Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Live Coverage of Todd Blanche's Hearing. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 15, 2026 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:30:00]

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Raise their hands, take the oath and then field the questions asked by members of the committee. You'll see some of the people who are even judges today at state level and have distinguished careers in law start to overt their eyes, squirm and then give a script, which doesn't acknowledge the obvious, Donald Trump lost the 2020 election by seven million popular votes -- seven million votes popular the vote, and he lost by that number. That's a fact. Any eighth grader in America knows it and can repeat it for you. And yet when it comes down to asking Trump judicial nominees, who won the 2020 election, you ought to see them squirm.

What's the reason? The president's big lie. He believes in his heart of hearts that he somehow won that election, though he can't produce any evidence of that fact. Well, we'll give you your chance. I hope that you'll produce the evidence to show, one way or the other, that the big lie is the truth or not the truth. Your first indictment of former FBI Director Comey failed in a case brought by an unqualified and unlawfully appointed U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan. So now Mr. Comey is being prosecuted for taking pictures of seashells. This prosecution, personally ordered by the president, who despises Mr. Comey for overseeing the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

You have also baselessly indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that has worked tirelessly to expose violent extremists, like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, a group which we in the Senate know well for their January 6th escapade. The same people you gave a clean slate for their role in attacking this Capitol.

A federal judge recently singled out your, quote, "remarkable statements" targeting Kilmar Abrego Garcia as evidence that his criminal prosecution was, quote, "marked by a retaliatory taint" for successfully fighting his deportation.

And despite my repeated request, you have yet to produce the DOJ memorandum concluding that it was legally permissible for the president of the United States to accept a gift of a luxury airliner from the royal family of Qatar despite constitutional and statutory foreign gift prohibitions. Earlier this month, that jet was launched as Air Force One despite credible reports of security vulnerability. Last weekend, the Department of Justice responded, not by addressing these concerns, but by sending federal agents with subpoenas to the homes of the reporters who exposed these lapses. In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice, you have shown

you're still President Trump's personal attorney. Your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said, quote, "I love you, sir," to President Trump. This was your response when you were asked what you would say to him. This nation deserves an attorney general who loves the Constitution more than any single president. An attorney general focused on keeping America safe and combating corruption, not satisfying the president's personal grievances, or channeling crypto cash to the administration's MAGA faithful.

Mr. President -- Mr. Chairman, I yield.

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): Now we turn --

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We've been listening to the opening statements from the chairman and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. Very shortly, Todd Blanche will deliver his opening remarks.

We're going to take a quick break and we'll hear them when they happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:37:42]

BERMAN: All right, now you're looking at live pictures of the Senate hearing room. Todd Blanche about to deliver his opening statement. Right now what's happening is Florida Senator Ashley Moody is introducing him. Also with us, you can see, our senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, who has known Todd Blanche for a very, very long time.

Elie, we're going to jump in and listen to Blanche the minute he starts speaking.

But in the meantime, as Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the committee, was delivering his statements, he mentioned a conversation that he had with Blanche, I believe just yesterday, where he pressed Blanche on this federal judge in Florida who wrote this scathing review of this deal that Todd Blanche was somehow involved in. And Durbin said that Blanche told him it was a hit piece by a federal judge.

How do you think that might go over with the senators there? And how good of a defense is that from Blanche if that's what we hear?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there's clearly a divide here between the -- at least Senator Durbin and Todd Blanche on that piece. It was an opinion written by a federal judge. It certainly will be appealed by DOJ.

But the essence of that piece was essentially that opinion by the judge is that Todd Blanche was in on a collusive lawsuit that was essentially Trump v. Trump, and that Todd Blanche was not candid with the court about that lawsuit. And I thought, John, Senator Durbin's opening statement gave us a good roadmap for what we should expect to hear, especially, but not only, from the Democrats on this committee.

Senator Durbin ticked through the Epstein files. You know that will come up through the slush fund that you mentioned before, through the weaponized prosecutions of Jim Comey and others. The recent subpoenas to "New York Times" journalists. The dismantling of DOJ's anti- cryptocurrency investigative group. And the firing of hundreds of qualified, experienced professional prosecutors and FBI agents for reasons including that they worked on cases against January 6th defendants.

So, I thought that was a very helpful look ahead at what we should expect Todd Blanche to be questioned on.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And also, we're getting a little bit, Elie, from what is in his prepared remarks, as we're waiting to hear from Todd Blanche himself. And one of the things that he says that -- according to his prepared remarks, he's going to argue that he is restoring trust in the Justice Department, after exactly everything you just listed out there. Is that -- how important is it that he make a convincing case of that to these senators?

[09:40:01]

HONIG: Well, I think that's the core issue. And I think there's an obvious split in what it means to have trust in DOJ. Todd Blanche will argue that the Justice Department, in prior years, was weaponized in particular against Donald Trump. You heard, in the opening, Chairman Grassley talked about Jack Smith and things that he thinks Jack Smith did wrong. So, in Blanche's view, and in the view of Chairman Grassley and others, DOJ was weaponized under prior administrations.

I think the response to that will be, whether that's true or not, how does that now justify weaponizing it the other way? I mean any child can tell you two wrongs don't make a right. And I think Blanche will be questioned aggressively about his failed prosecutions of Letitia James, his first failed prosecution of Jim Comey, the current prosecution of Jim Comey. Senator Durbin said it was for taking pictures of seashells.

I see Blanche is being sworn in now, so I think we'll probably want to cut to that.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, he is being sworn in. We are expecting to hear his comments in just a few seconds here. He has just said that he will tell the whole truth, and it's now up to him to give his response.

Let's go ahead and listen in to the acting attorney general, who is vying for the permanent job of attorney general of the United States.

TODD BLANCHE, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: Thank you. Thank you very much, Chairman Grassley. And thank you, Senator, for that introduction. I appreciate you and your friendship.

Good morning. Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin and the other members of the committee, thank you for having me. As Senator Durbin said a minute ago, I would like to offer each of you

my condolences for the loss of your colleague, Senator Graham. He was a patriot and a friend to so many -- to so many of us. It's a loss for the American people. And I think honoring him today and as he's been honored for the past several days is the right thing to do.

Seventeen months ago I sat at this table as the nominee to be the deputy attorney general. And I told you that serving in the Department of Justice was my American dream. Since then, I have -- I have helped lead it, first as deputy and now as acting attorney general. And I'm here today to earn your trust once more.

I've lived the American dream. I waited tables to get through college. Moved to New York with my wife and two young kids. I went to law school at night, read textbooks on the late train home while I worked days as a paralegal at the U.S. Attorney's Office. From that start, I became a prosecutor and spent nine years prosecuting violent gangs and drug dealers. I rose through the ranks of the Department of Justice as a line prosecutor, then a division chief. Then, as of last year, deputy attorney general and now acting attorney general.

But I did not take that path for a title. I took it to make a difference for American families and the towns they call home. I am exceedingly grateful to President Trump for his trust and to my family, who have carried me through every long day and late night. My wife Kristine, our wonderful children, Sydney and Justin, my granddaughter, Blaine, who's here today, all of them are here today, my wonderful friends, many of whom are here today, are really what make this worth it and what gets me through my days. And so I want to thank them for not only being here today and supporting me, but also being with me every step of the way in the journey that we're on together.

My family's blessings should be available to all Americans. When a family can send their kids to school, walk their neighborhood after dark, and build a life without fear, every promise of the American dream is within reach. When they cannot, none of it is. That's my job, securing safety for every American.

I'm pleased to testify again today to tell everybody here that we are doing just that, we are keeping America safe. Since President Trump took office, it's been said a few times this morning already, but it bears repeating, murders are down roughly 20 percent nationwide. We have the lowest murder rate since 1900. Violent crime arrests are up nearly 114 percent. We've taken almost 5,000 child predators and human traffickers off the streets. And the Department of Justice has filed nearly 100,000 indictments and inflammations since January 20, 2025.

Additionally, in just the last four weeks, in just the last month, we've paid $96 million in claims through the Public Safety Officers Benefits Program to eligible surviving families of fallen public safety officers, even while fewer law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty than the prior years.

[09:45:20] And obviously, these are not just numbers. Each one is a family that still has its son or daughter, and an officer who came home for dinner.

If you look at Washington and Memphis as examples, where we have worked with federal, state and local partners pulling thousands of criminals off the streets in those two cities, homicides in D.C. are down about 60 percent and overall crime in Memphis declined by more than 40 percent. We've seized thousands of illegal guns, brought more than 150 missing children home in those two cities, and cleaned up parks and spaces family once avoided so you can take your kids and loved ones there once again.

We are enforcing our borders. We are prosecuting the smugglers who profited from an open border, removing criminal aliens and dismantling gangs like MS-13 and TDA. We're smashing the cartels and ending the scourge of drugs in our communities. We designated the major cartels as foreign terrorist organizations because that's exactly what they are, and we're using every tool that unlocked, narco terrorism charges, forfeiture and extraditions. Dozens of cartel leaders are now in American custody, drug seizures are skyrocketing, and overdose deaths are finally falling.

We are protecting taxpayers. Last year, the department brought the largest health care fraud takedown in American history. More than $14 billion. And another $11 billion in total fraud in just the last three months. That's money stolen from the FISC, stolen from Medicare, from seniors, working families, and we're clawing it back. We're doing all of this, I will add, through partnership. Federal agents, state troopers, county sheriffs, local officers and state attorneys general, in your home states, all pulling in the same direction. That is what happens when we fight crime together. And I want to bring that model that we've done in a few towns to more communities in every state.

Above all, we are restoring American trust. In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public's faith in justice. We are fixing that. Members of this committee on both sides have fair questions about the hard debates of the past year, and I welcome them. I'm proud of what we've done to help American families see safer streets and to have a fair shot at the life they're working to build. None of this is a Republican or Democrat issue. Every senator here has constituents who just want to be safe.

The men and women of this department are the finest people I have ever worked with, and leading them is the honor of my professional life. We are keeping America safe. And we are just getting started. I love this country. I love the Department of Justice.

Thank you very much, Chairman, for the opportunity to appear before this committee today, and I look forward to answering your questions.

Thank you.

GRASSLEY: Thank you for that testimony. And we'll now have our ten minute rounds of questioning. I'll start, and then the senator from Illinois.

I've long been concerned about concentration and anti-competitive conduct and health care --

BERMAN: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche delivering his opening statement. Questions are about to begin.

We will be right back with that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:26]

BOLDUAN: Take you back to Capitol Hill, where Todd Blanche is now facing questions as part of his confirmation hearing to be the next attorney general of the United States, talking about and defending his handling of the Epstein files right now.

BLANCHE: To apply appropriate redactions. There were mistakes that were made. And so, approximately one percent of the redactions had to be fixed after we released the Epstein files.

Chairman, we had dozens of lawyers on call 24/7. Whenever we learned that any victim's name had been improperly not redacted, we immediately took the document down and fixed it as soon as we could. That doesn't excuse the mistakes of which I take responsibility, but it does mean that we tried to fix them.

We complied with the act. It required us complying with judge's rules in New York, which required us to redact certain victim's names, even if the victim was also somebody who participated in criminal conduct. The judge did not allow -- judges in New York did not allow us to redact those names.

The other thing that we did, Chairman, is we made unredacted versions of the entire database available to everybody in this body. And we did that because of transparency.

Remember, for four years there wasn't a peep about Jeffrey Epstein. The Biden administration did nothing to be transparent about the Epstein case. We have been extraordinarily transparent in not only producing the records, but letting unredacted versions be available to anybody in this body.

[09:55:01]

And if after reviewing unredacted materials a member had concerns about why something was redacted, they brought them to the department's attention and we addressed that. So, I want to make sure the American people know that this administration, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, has been more transparent than any past administration, than Biden was or anybody else. And what we did is we complied with the law. And if we learned of new material, we will most certainly review it and make it available. When it comes to the victims of this horrible man, we will never,

never not talk to victims. We will never not do everything we can to prosecute anybody that committed any crimes against any of these women. So, that narrative is false. We have spoken with over 30 representatives of dozens and dozens of victims since this process started. Any victim, if they're here today, I would encourage them to -- or their lawyers to meet with the FBI. We will 100 percent investigate.

There are no closed investigations. If we learn today, if we learn next week, if we learn next month that there's an individual that we can investigate, indict and prosecute out of the Epstein files, you better believe that we will. And so, we worked hard, the hard-working lawyers within the department to do the right thing with the -- with the -- to comply with the act. And we did. And we'll continue to do so, Chairman.

GRASSLEY: Jack Smith and his team possessed and reviewed congressional information and other sensitive materials when they shouldn't have. And they were advised not to. Describe the steps you've taken to impose accountability so that this egregious and partizan misconduct never happens again.

BLANCHE: The biggest thing we can do, Chairman, is be transparent about what happened. And that requires us doing a check on ourselves and on the work that happened before us and being transparent with this body and providing records to you. I think when the American people understand and learn what happened and the egregious abuses that happened, it will be a check on making sure it never happens again.

We strive every day to not only move forward as a department doing the right thing, but to make sure that any -- anything that happened in the past, whether it's releasing emails or admitting to things that we did and the department did that we shouldn't have done, to making -- being transparent with the American people about that, that's the best we can do. And that's what -- that's what we're doing.

GRASSLEY: I made messages public between Jack Smith's office that appeared to relate to the Trump classified document case. Those messages showed government personnel left open a classified facility and potentially mishandled classified information, causing a security violation. While defense counsels to Trump, did the government apprize you of these issues? And secondly, did the Biden justice administration do any investigation into this misconduct?

BLANCHE: We were never advised at that time when I was defense counsel to President Trump. And I'm not aware of any investigation that was started by -- for that alleged conduct.

GRASSLEY: The Justice Department must do a full and complete investigation into this matter.

This will probably have to be my last question.

On March the 15th this year, I made public a signed and sworn statement from an FBI official. That statement says two important things. Special Counsel Mueller's team lacked a legal basis to pursue a FISA renewal of the Walid Phares and investigate Thomas Barak, but did so anyway. What steps have you taken to investigate these very troubling criminal allegations? And if you haven't taken any action, why not?

BLANCHE: We are investigating that, Chairman. And it would be inappropriate in this setting to get into the details of that investigation. But the sworn affidavit that we reviewed from -- that you provided does raise serious allegations, yes.

GRASSLEY: Thank you very much.

Senator Durbin.

DURBIN: Thank you much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Blanche, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you.

Is it not true that Congress had to pass a law requiring the Trump administration to disclose the Epstein files, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by bipartisan roll calls in the House and Senate to finally get the files made public?

BLANCHE: President Trump signed that law. Yes.

[09:59:58]

DURBIN: Yes, of course he did after overwhelming numbers of House members and Senate members voted for it on a bipartisan basis because the administration would not voluntarily produce these