Durbin: Blanche has "no business" serving as attorney general

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that Todd Blanche has "no business" serving as attorney general, portraying him as an untrustworthy nominee willing to do President Trump's bidding.

"Instead of serving the American people and upholding the rule of law and the Constitution, Mr. Blanche has aided and abetted the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States," he said ahead of a committee vote on advancing Mr. Blanche's nomination.

Sen. Durbin also argued the controversial $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund could easily be revived despite Mr. Blanche providing formal documents saying it was dead at the request of two Republican senators who had threatened to derail his nomination without those assurances.

"To state the obvious, Mr. Blanche's statement on the slush fund and the IRS immunity agreement are not signed by the parties to the settlement agreement and are therefore unenforceable," the Illinois Democrat said.

"The parties could still sue to enforce the agreement, and the cop beaters fund can easily be revived with a new order from the Department of Justice 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general. Indeed, the president himself has loudly telegraphed that's his plan."

President Trump repeatedly defended the fund, including as recently as Monday, when he said he viewed it "as a positive" and that "a lot of Republicans do too."

"These people were treated horribly, and this fund could have given them some solace," he told reporters at a Cabinet meeting, adding he "didn't look at" the agreement Mr. Blanche provided to the Republican senators. "All I know is that Todd Blanche is great."

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