Todd Blanche grilled by US lawmakers over Epstein files, Trump tax immunity

US President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche, faced ⁠tense bipartisan questioning at a US Senate panel on Wednesday about the roll-out of the Epstein files and a settlement that gave the president sweeping tax immunity.

Blanche, the president’s former personal lawyer, was pressed by Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas about the Justice Department’s decision to settle Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service by creating a since-abandoned US$1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies for alleged prior government mistreatment, along with an associated order shielding Trump and his family businesses from facing tax audits over prior conduct.

Blanche, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, deemed the planned ‌fund “dead”, but acknowledged the underlying settlement had not been formally rescinded. He said Trump’s lawyers would have to go to court to enforce the settlement, something Blanche said they had no plans to do.

He defended the tax portion of the deal as standard practice in IRS settlements, though tax experts have described the immunity for Trump as highly unusual.

Cornyn told reporters during a hearing break that Blanche’s answers did not assuage his concerns about the fund and did not yet get him to a yes vote. He said he would wait to make a decision until he has to make a vote.

“The argument was that the weaponisation fund was dead,” he said. “What he confirmed is that it’s not.” He added: “I continue to have some concerns.”