Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche began meeting with Republican senators Monday as he launches a monthlong confirmation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was Blanche\u2019s first stop as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will eventually process his nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grassley, in a statement Monday, was positive about Blanche\u2019s career so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI appreciated the opportunity to sit down again with Todd Blanche, who\u2019s spent the last year and a half supporting President Trump\u2019s mission of law and order as Deputy Attorney General and now Acting Attorney General,\u201d Grassley said. \u201cBlanche is prepared to build on that success and continue working hard to keep American families safe as the next Attorney General.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grassley added that he is still waiting for some \u201crecords to be produced\u201d from oversight inquiries he has made of the Department of Justice (DOJ). He did not specify what records those are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI expect Blanche to respond to my outstanding requests for records, so the American people get the transparency and accountability they deserve,\u201d Grassley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump nominated Blanche to the position of full-time attorney general last week on the heels of a bitter fight within the Senate Republican Conference over a proposed $1.8 billion \u201canti-weaponization\u201d fund for people who felt the DOJ had unfairly prosecuted them. Blanche announced the new fund in his capacity as acting attorney general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the fund was withdrawn as an idea, some senators were still hesitant last week about Blanche, given both his involvement with the fund and his career history as Trump\u2019s personal lawyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two of Blanche\u2019s critics, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who are both leaving the Senate at the end of the term, are key votes on the Judiciary panel. Just one of them could hold up Blanche\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican on the committee, said Monday evening that he\u2019s scheduled to meet with Blanche later this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat he\u2019ll follow the law,\u201d Cornyn said, when asked what he\u2019d like to hear from Blanche. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, Cornyn said he had concerns about Blanche having been Trump\u2019s personal lawyer, which is distinct from the job of attorney general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing AG [attorney general] is a unique job because you\u2019re the president\u2019s lawyer, you\u2019re the chief legal officer for the United States, but you\u2019re also a member of the president\u2019s Cabinet, which means you could be fired at any time,\u201d Cornyn told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s maybe the hardest balancing act in the Cabinet. So I\u2019m interested in hearing how he would approach the job, because he was President Trump\u2019s lawyer at one time, but if he\u2019s, if he\u2019s AG, he won\u2019t be the president\u2019s lawyer,\u201d Cornyn said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grassley, in his statement, said Blanche\u2019s hearing in front of the full committee would be in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n