Paging Dr. Freud: Todd Blanche Calls Himself Trump’s Lawyer At His Attorney General Confirmation Hearing

Todd Blanche has spent the better part of his confirmation hearing trying to convince the Senate Judiciary Committee that he is the Attorney General of the United States, not Donald Trump’s personal attorney. He is not making it easy on himself.

During an exchange with Senator John Kennedy — who, it should be noted, was trying to help — Blanche was asked a simple question: “Are you and President Trump friends?” The answer that came out was not the answer anyone in the room was expecting.

“I’m his lawyer — was his lawyer,” Blanche said, before catching himself. “And now I’m the deputy attorney general.”

The pause between “I’m his lawyer” and “was his lawyer” did a lot of work. So did everything that came after it, “I met him as his criminal defense attorney. I’m not sure there’s very many people who have ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend.”

To be fair to Blanche, that last part is technically true! Criminal defense attorneys and their clients are not generally friends. Well… maybe mob lawyers, they tend to be close to their clients — something about the repeatability of the work. But the question wasn’t about the nature of the attorney-client relationship. It was about Blanche, the man auditioning to be the nation’s top law enforcement officer, and his dynamic with his boss.

It’s a relationship that has been criticized for its sycophantic nature. That’s the central concern that has animated the New York Times editorial board, Senator Whitehouse, hundreds of DOJ alumni, and Blanche’s own former SDNY colleagues in opposing this nomination. It’s what Blanche’s former colleagues mean when they say they’re “disgusted” by Blanche’s “major transformation.” He was a prosecutor once and he took an oath. But then he became Trump’s lawyer, and apparently some part of him never stopped putting in the work for Trump as his personal sponsor.

Trump, for his part, posted on Truth Social yesterday that Blanche is “100% LOYAL” — which is a characterization that, in the context of Blanche’s confirmation hearing for Attorney General of the United States, is doing a lot of heavy lifting… unfortunately for Blanche it’s very much in the wrong direction.

The clip went predictably viral.

Other moments from today’s hearing people are talking about:

* Blanche confidently gets a fact wrong, gets slapped down on the spot — Senator Hirono asked whether any of the 14 judges who ruled on DOJ’s voter list lawsuits had sided with the government. Blanche said yes. Hirono said “Actually, that’s not correct. The answer is no. Some of them were Trump appointees.” Under oath, at his own confirmation hearing.
* Blanche loses it at Booker — “You Won’t Even Let Me Answer, Man!” The acting AG lost his composure during what was reportedly a tense exchange over DOJ independence.
* Blanche loses it at Durbin too — When Durbin pointed out that Congress had to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act because DOJ wouldn’t hand over documents voluntarily, Blanche roared “That’s not true!” It’s a big claim to make under oath.
* Adam Schiff asks the quiet part out loud — “What happened to you, Todd Blanche?” Joyce Vance had the best response: “Power doesn’t corrupt as much as it reveals.”
* Blanche admits the J6 pardons were “very generous” — Senator Chris Coons was not pleased: “I consider it a shameful slap in the face for those convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers.”
* John Kennedy asks if Jack Smith spied on his emails — “Would You Check for Me?” Kennedy, who earlier lobbed Blanche the friend softball, pivoted to asking him to investigate his own email account. As one does.
* A GOP senator grills Blanche on the slush fund — “There’s So Much That’s Unusual About This.” Republican members aren’t giving him a total pass.
* A key GOP senator says he’s on the fence — After a tense exchange, at least one Republican is publicly uncommitted. The math remains tight.