WATCH: “What happened to you, Todd Blanche?” – Sen. Schiff Presses Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Recusals, Trump Tax Immunity Deal

Schiff: “What happened to the Todd Blanche of the Southern District of New York that could convert him into you? Someone willing to say the president has both the right and the duty to prosecute his political enemies.” Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) pressed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at his nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on his role in the settlement reached by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the tax immunity deal created for the president in that agreement, and Blanche’s obligation to recuse himself from matters involving cases he handled as Trump’s personal criminal defense lawyer. While under oath, Blanche claimed, for the first time, that he recused himself from matters related to lawsuits in which he represented the president, including the case concerning the president’s involvement in the January 6 insurrection. Schiff pressed Blanche on why his recusal did not apply to the firing of DOJ career prosecutors involved in those cases, and Blanche’s role in preventing the release of a previous DOJ report detailing Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents. Schiff repeatedly called out Blanche for compromising his integrity for the president, using his power to further the president’s desire to target his political enemies while enriching himself, his family, and his allies. Watch the full clip here. Download the clip HERE. Key Excerpts: On Blanche’s conflicts of interest: Schiff: Mr. Blanche, you represented the president in three, at least three, criminal cases: the hush money payment case in New York, the January 6th case, and the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. You said when you appeared last before this committee, you would consult with ethics lawyers about that apparent conflict of interest in handling any case involving the president, having been his personal counsel. Did you consult with Joseph Tirrell, a senior ethics lawyer at the Department? Blanche: I believe I met with Mr. Tirrell. Yes. Schiff: Did Mr. Tirrell tell you that ethics laws and policies required that you not be involved in cases involving your prior representation of the president? Blanche: Yes. Schiff: So, in those three matters – the hush money payment case, the January 6th case, the Mar-a-Lago case, you were to recuse yourself? Blanche: I’m recused. Correct. Well, by the way, the cases are not ongoing, Senator. But to the extent there’s any work around those cases, yes, I’m recused. On the release of Volume Two of the special counsel’s report on Mar-a-Lago: Schiff: You have also refused to release Volume Two of the special counsel’s report. That was an investigation into the Mar-a-Lago documents case. How is that not an abundant conflict of interest – refusing to release to the public an investigative report of an investigation into your client? Blanche : I am not a judge. A federal judge has said it cannot be released – Schiff: No, no, no, no, no. The department’s position under you, Mr. Blanche. The department’s position under you, Mr. Blanche, was do not release the report. Blanche: So that position – Schiff: If you went into court asking them to release it, it would be released by now. So how is that not a patent conflict of interest? Blanche: What you’re saying happens to not be true. I did not do that. What you’re talking about happened before I became the Deputy Attorney General – Schiff: So, you support the release of Volume Two? Blanche: No, I don’t. But I’m recused and had nothing to do with that case. Like, you can’t accuse me of violating my ethical rules and then lie about what I did. Schiff: So, you had nothing to do with the decision to prohibit the release of the report. You had nothing to do with the department’s position? Blanche : I wasn’t in court. I wasn’t the Deputy – Schiff: No, I’m not asking you whether you were in court. I’m asking you whether anyone sought your opinion or used your guidance in refusing to release Volume Two. You’re saying you had nothing to do with that decision? Blanche: When that litigation was ongoing, I was a private citizen, still representing the President of the United States. It was before March – since March, to the extent there’s been anything in front of that judge, I haven’t been part of it. Schiff: Mr. Blanche, I asked you in your last confirmation hearing whether you would release the report. Your answer was no. Your answer was not, “I will recuse my myself.” Your answer was “No, I will not release the report.” That was your testimony last before this committee. You subsequently were advised by ethics lawyers not to be involved in these matters, but it appears you were involved in these matters. Let me ask you about another matter. Blanche: I wasn’t involved. Well, you can’t say that it appears I was involved. Schiff: Let me ask you about another one you have your name on. Blanche: The truth has to matter at some point. Schiff: Yeah, it does matter, we just don’t hear much of it from you. On Acting Attorney General Blanche’s decision to sign the slush fund: Schiff: You signed an agreement for the U.S. basically indicating that the Justice Department’s position that the statute of limitations applies doesn’t matter. Blanche: I didn’t. That’s not what I said. I didn’t say that anywhere. Schiff: Who rejected the 25 defenses the IRS had to this sham lawsuit? Who rejected them? Who said that these defenses we’re not going to accept, we’re just going to go with the president’s agreement and the slush fund and this immunity? Blanche: There was a lot of discussion internally about the case. Schiff: But you made the decision? Blanche: I – what’s the decision? What do you mean? What decision? Schiff: You made the decision to not defend the IRS and the Justice Department. You made the decision and said to sign this slush fund agreement. Blanche: We made the decision to settle the case. Correct. Schiff: Yeah, and in doing that, you basically decided that you were going to be the lawyer for the president and the lawyer for the IRS and the Justice Department. As the court found in this case there was no adversarial relationship. Blanche: Yes – Schiff: The court found it was a sham. It was a collusive relationship, and what I don’t understand, Todd Blanche, what happened to the Todd Blanche who was a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York? What happened to the prosecutor people had respect for? What happened to the prosecutor who once respected the rule of law? What happened to the prosecutor who said that there wouldn’t be a whiff of political partisanship and then prosecutes the president’s enemies over seashells cases, over making a video stating the plain law and Constitution? What happened to the Todd Blanche of the Southern District of New York that could convert him into you. Someone willing to say the president has both the right and the duty to prosecute his political enemies. Blanche: I never said that. Schiff: I cannot imagine the Todd Blanche of the old days would have ever done that. What happened to you, Todd Blanche? I’ll tell you this. I think Robert Caro had it right when he said that “Power doesn’t corrupt as much as it reveals.” I suspect it has just revealed who you are. And who you are is someone willing to sacrifice everything you once believed in for that title, for that position of Attorney General. And it is a sad story that we have seen from Trump appointee after appointee after appointee. We have seen people compromise themselves little by little, and then a lot by a lot until they’re sitting before this committee and trying to justify the unjustifiable. ###