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

Todd Blanche has spent much 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’s 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 that anyone in the room expected.

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

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

To be fair to Blanche, that last part is technically true! Criminal defense attorneys and their clients are generally not friends. Well… maybe mafia lawyersthey tend to be close to their customers – something about the repeatability of the work. But the question was not about the nature of the attorney-client relationship. It was about Blanche, the man who would become the top law enforcement officer in the country, and his dynamic with his boss.

It is a relationship that has been criticized for its sycophantic nature. This is the central concern that has animated it editorial board of the New York Times, Senator Whitehouse, hundreds of DD alumniAND Blanche SDNY’s own former colleagues in opposing this nomination. That’s what Blanche’s former co-workers are saying when they say they’re “disgusted” by Blanche’s “huge transformation.” He was once a prosecutor and took an oath. But then he became Trump’s lawyer, and apparently a part of him never stopped working for Trump as his personal sponsor.

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

The clip went predictably viral.

Other highlights from today’s hearing are talking about:

* Blanche confidently gets a fact wrong, slaps her on the spot — Senator Hirono asked if any of the 14 judges who ruled on the DOJ voter roll 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 confirmation hearing.
* Blanche loses it at Booker – “It won’t even let me answer, man!” The acting AG lost his cool during what was said to be a tense exchange about the DOJ’s independence.
* Blanche also loses it in Durbin – When Durbin pointed out that Congress needed to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act because the DOJ would not voluntarily hand over the documents, Blanche shouted “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 answer: “Power does not corrupt so much as it reveals.”
* Blanche admits J6’s apologies were ‘very generous’ — was Sen. Chris Coons not satisfied: “I consider it a shameful slap in the face to those convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers.”
* John Kennedy asks if Jack Smith spied on his emails – “Will you check for me?” Kennedy, who previously lobbied Blanche’s softball friend, focused on asking him to investigate his email account. As one does.
* A Republican senator rips Blanche into the slush fund – “There are so many things that are unusual about it.” Republican members are not giving him a total pass.
* A top GOP senator says he’s on the fence – After a tense exchangeat least one Republican is publicly uncommitted. The math remains tight.