WATCH LIVE: Epstein survivor, fired DOJ pardon attorney testify at Blanche confirmation hearing

By — Eric Tucker, Associated Press Eric Tucker, Associated Press By — Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-epstein-survivor-fired-doj-pardon-attorney-testify-at-blanche-confirmation-hearing Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH LIVE: Epstein survivor, fired DOJ pardon attorney testify at Blanche confirmation hearing Politics Jul 16, 2026 9:49 AM EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confronted skeptical questions at a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday about the creation of a fund to compensate President Donald Trump's allies and a tax immunity deal for the president as he aimed to lock down the Republican support needed to advance his nomination. Watch Thursday's hearing live in the video player above. Blanche insisted that the $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund," which was scrapped after fierce bipartisan backlash, was "not moving forward." But lawmakers, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn, conveyed concerns that the Trump administration has yet to commit in writing that the fund is dead and could therefore conceivably be resurrected. "Just to be clear, the president of the United States, who's a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to delete the weaponization fund and there's no guarantee that he or one of the other plaintiffs" won't raise the issue in the future, Cornyn asked. Blanche replied that Trump has no power over the fund, which was to have been administered by the Justice Department but was never launched. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Cornyn's questions were closely watched since Blanche requires the backing of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and the Texas senator has not committed his support. The hearing arrived at a tumultuous time for the Justice Department, with mass firings and resignations having hollowed out the workforce and Democrats and other critics raising alarms that Blanche is still functioning as Trump's personal lawyer. He has led the department on an interim basis since April, functioning as the public face of the maligned fund and accelerating investigations into perceived Trump adversaries. Even as he said the fund was shelved, he made clear that immunity from tax audits afforded to Trump this year remained in place despite a congressional outcry. Those actions, plus the flawed release of files from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation, received fresh scrutiny Wednesday. "You're in charge of a Department of Justice I don't recognize, prosecuting the president's political enemies, firing rank and file prosecutors and FBI agents," Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware told Blanche. "These are some actions that in your previous confirmation hearing before us, you said you would not tak