Durbin Delivers Opening Statement In Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On President Trump’s Nominee To Be Attorney General, Todd Blanche

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during the Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing for Todd Blanche, President Trump’s pick to be Attorney General of the United States.

Before turning to his opening statement, Durbin addressed Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s (R-IA) comments about special prosecutor Jack Smith. Durbin again called for Committee Republicans to accept Mr. Smith’s offer to testify publicly under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Instead of allowing Mr. Smith to testify, Senate Judiciary Republicans continue to hold wasteful hearings to relitigate the 2020 presidential election, despite numerous other issues worth examining within the Committee’s jurisdiction.

Key Quotes:

“We are here because there is a vacancy in the office [of the Attorney General]. The President decided to fire [Mr. Blanche’s] predecessor after just 14 months on the job, after courts and grand juries blocked her from prosecuting the President’s political opponents. Seemingly, President Trump believes you, Mr. Blanche, will be more successful.”

“When you were first nominated to be Deputy Attorney General, Democrats raised concerns about the President’s personal attorney serving as the top attorney of the Justice Department. The Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States of America.”

“Since you were confirmed, DOJ has literally violated dozens of court orders to advance Trump’s agenda. Last year, you declared that the Justice Department was ‘at war’ with the federal judiciary… I believe all of us on both sides of the table need to be more careful with our rhetoric when it comes to the judiciary.”

“One of your first official actions as Acting Attorney General was establishing a nearly $2 billion weaponization or slush fund to benefit January 6 cop-beaters while immunizing President Trump from IRS liability. You defended the slush fund by claiming, ‘People that hurt police get money all the time.’ Despite resounding bipartisan criticism and admitting this was a mistake, you have refused to rescind the order creating this fund, [which] can still be found on DOJ’s website today.”

“Earlier this week, a federal judge characterized your explanation of the settlement that led to this fund ‘at best, misleading and, at worst, disingenuous.’ You told me yesterday that the opinion was ‘a hit piece’ on you, another troubling attack on a judge for doing her job.”

“Then there’s the cover-up of the Epstein files, which former Attorney General Bondi herself said you were ‘in charge of.’ Under your leadership, more than 1,000 FBI personnel were pulled off other priorities and directed to flag Epstein records [mentioning] President Trump.”

“When scrutiny of the cover-up intensified, you participated in meetings in the White House Situation Room to strategize about how to protect President Trump, not Epstein’s survivors.”

“When Congress forced the Administration to release the files, hundreds of survivors’ personal information was unredacted—victimizing them again. Meanwhile, the names of powerful Epstein allies remain protected, in clear violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Your explanation? ‘It isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.’”

“Mr. Blanche, these survivors deserve much better. I want to recognize many of the survivors who are in the audience today. I thank them for their courage in speaking out. Tomorrow, we will hear from one of them during the outside witness panel.”

“I’m asking you, Mr. Blanche, before you leave this room, to agree to meet with these Epstein survivors personally and bring with you professionals from the Department of Justice to hear them out.”

“You told me yesterday you want to be Attorney General because you love DOJ and you love prosecutors. But you have removed from the Department some of the most effective prosecutors that have ever served our government [for the President’s personal benefit]—purging career law-enforcement officials who won’t prioritize President Trump’s interests over their oath to the Constitution.”

“More than 1,200 former career DOJ employees, who worked for both Republican and Democratic Administrations, sent the Committee a letter opposing your nomination because you have purged DOJ of thousands of experienced law-enforcement officials, putting our nation’s security at risk.”

“You testified under oath last year that as Deputy Attorney General, you would consult with career ethics officials to avoid conflicts of interest, a significant concern since you received nearly $10 million as the President’s personal attorney. But you have gutted the DOJ offices that handle ethics and professional responsibility.”

“Shortly after you were confirmed as Deputy Attorney General, you issued an order dismantling DOJ’s crypto enforcement team and shutting down ongoing criminal investigations of the crypto industry. At the time, you owned at least $159,000 worth of crypto-related assets. While you eventually divested, those assets didn’t go far. You simply transferred them to your children and grandchild. With the cryptocurrency enforcement unit out of the way, President Trump brought in $1.4 billion from his family’s cryptocurrency businesses in 2025 alone.”

“You recently claimed that ‘there’s a ton of evidence that the 2020 election was rigged’ … 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—the same people who you gave a clean slate for their role in attacking our Capitol.”

“And, despite my repeated requests, you have yet to produce the DOJ memorandum concluding it was ‘legally permissible’ for the President of the United States to accept the 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 vulnerabilities. Last weekend, DOJ responded not by addressing these security 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 are still President Trump’s personal attorney. Your tenure can be summed up in just four words: ‘I love you, sir.’ This was your response when asked what you would say to [President Trump].”

“This nation deserves an Attorney General who loves the Constitution more than any single president—an Attorney General who is focused on keeping Americans safe and combatting corruption, not satisfying the President’s personal grievances.”

Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.

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