WATCH: Blanche says he won’t discuss talks he’s had with Trump about anti-weaponization fund

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., asked U.S. attorney general nominee Todd Blanche whether he advised President Donald Trump against a nearly $1.8 billion fund to pay people who say they were victims of government "weaponization.”

The fund, which has since been scrapped, was part of a settlement to end a $10 billion lawsuit by Trump against the Internal Revenue Service over the leaking of his tax returns.

“I will not talk about communications I have with the president,” Blanche said.

Earlier in the confirmation hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Blanche said he only discussed the fund with Trump once the administration determined it would not move forward.

Coons asked Blanche why the department had not put in writing that the fund is not being created.

Blanche said the department has put it in writing in several court filings, adding that the reason there has not been a formal declaration “is because there's long-standing precedent that judges cannot ask Cabinet secretaries or people like me to put in declarations.”

“It has nothing to do with whether the fund is alive,” Blanche said. “I'm under oath today and I've said it's dead repeatedly.”

Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former defense attorney, stepped into the role of acting attorney general after Pam Bondi was fired in early April.

This is the first of two days of confirmation hearings the committee has scheduled.

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