Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was left squirming and evasive when cornered over whether the Trump administration was preparing to dole out millions of taxpayer dollars to violent offenders who attacked Capitol Hill police on January 6.
The Justice Department revealed the creation of a new $1.776 billion fund to pay out to people who claim to be victims of government weaponization. It was announced after Donald Trump dropped his own $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS.
But when confronted about the fund in a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Blanche would not rule out the funds being handed to violent offenders or Trump’s own allies and political donors.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons was one of several senators who sounded the alarms on the creation of the massive fund. He said members of law enforcement raised concerns that those like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who assaulted Capitol Police officers could receive multi-million dollar payouts.
“Would you commit that no one who’s been convicted of assaulting a police officer will receive a payout from this fund?” Coons asked.
“I share the concerns that apparently members of law enforcement gave to you last week,” Blanche said.
He pointed out the fund had not been announced last week, but Coons noted that there were already reports that it was being created. ABC News broke the story on Thursday.
“Anybody can apply,” Blanche said. “The commissioners will set rules, I’m sure. That’s not for me to set. That’s for the commissioners. And whether an individual, an Oath Keeper you just mentioned, applies for compensation, anybody in this country can apply.”
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen also asked whether there would be rules that those who assaulted Capitol Police officers or committed violent crimes would not be eligible.
“Why not make that a rule?” Van Hollen asked.
“I expect—well, because I’m not one of the commissioners setting up the rules," Blanche said. “I expect there will be rules set up.”
However, Blanche, who is also Trump’s former personal criminal attorney, is tasked with appointing all five commissioners to oversee the fund.
Van Hollen called it an outrageous and unprecedented slush fund. He noted that one of the January 6 rioters who was pardoned by Trump was then convicted for molesting two children and tried to buy the silence of his victims by saying he would pay them from funds he was hoping to get.
“Can you commit to making the rule so that person is not eligible for payout under this fund?” Van Hollen asked.
“Well, you’re obviously lying in your question because there’s no way that this person committed to that,” Blanche shot back. “This slush fund, as you call it, didn’t exist.”
The Maryland Democrat cut him off and pointed out that he was reporting that Andrew Paul Johnson, who was convicted of sexually abusing two children in March, had attempted to bribe them with millions of dollars in restitution he claimed he was expecting as a pardoned rioter.
“But you said from the slush fund, senator, and that didn’t exist when he said that,” Blanche shot back.
“This is the fund that the president and all of you have been telegraphing all along that you are going to use to help the president’s friends,” Van Hollen pointed out.
Coons also asked about other Trump allies potentially receiving massive payouts from taxpayer dollars.
“Will you commit that none of this money will go to President Trump’s campaign donors?” Coons asked.
“I’m not committing to anything beyond the settlement agreement itself. When you say campaign donors, they’re not excluded from seeking compensation,” Blanche said.
Later in the hearing, Senator Jeff Merkley asked Blanche if he would encourage the commissioners he selected to prevent those who attacked police officers from being able to receive money, but the acting attorney general would not commit to the specifics.
“I will definitely encourage the commissioners to take everything into account when determining who should get compensation,” Blanche said.
Pressed on if he personally believed such violent offenders should be compensated, Blanche said his feelings were not relevant.
It was not just Democratic senators who raised concerns about the fund. GOP Maine Senator Susan Collins also asked about the fund and whether the claims would be publicly reported.
“There’s privacy laws that exist, so I don’t want to sit here today and say every scintilla of data collected will be released, but of course,” Blanche said.
The acting attorney general pointed to a quarterly report that the commission has to give to the attorney general, which he said would “certainly be public.” He also pointed to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process to retrieve information.
“I very much anticipate that the claims that are rewarded, the basis and the amount will for sure be made public along the way,” he said.
