Epstein 'mistakes' and Trump ties: Key takeaways from Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing

Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared for his first day of hearings before the US Senate, as he seeks a permanent appointment to lead America's top law enforcement agency.

Blanche served as Trump's personal attorney in three of the four major criminal cases he faced leading up to the 2024 election. Senator John N Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who broadly supports the administration, on Wednesday asked Blanche if he was "friends" with Trump.

"I'm his lawyer - was his lawyer," Blanche said in response. "And now I'm the deputy attorney general." "I met him as his criminal defence attorney, I'm not sure there's very many people who have ever had a criminal defence attorney who calls that person their friend," Blanche said.

The day before Blanche's confirmation hearing, a federal judge quashed a settlement between Trump, his business and family, and the Internal Revenue Service. The deal included immunity from future audits and the creation of a $1.7bn (1.2bn pounds) "anti-weaponisation fund" for people who believed they were unfairly targeted by the government.

The settlement had sparked bipartisan outrage on Capitol Hill. Republican senators, in particular, seemed to want Blanche on the record saying that the fund was truly dead. "You have no reason to believe that the so-called weaponisation fund will continue because of the settlement, agreement, is that correct?" Senator Mike Lee, a Republican, asked Blanche. "I am confident it will not," Blanche said. "It should never be paid out," said another Republican senator, Thom Tillis. He pressed Blanche for an "agreed to piece of text, coming from the administration, that just renders this thing dead, gone."

Blanche faced probing questions from both parties about the justice department's handling of the Epstein files. "We reviewed over six million pages," he said. "There were mistakes that were made, and so approximately 1% of the redactions had to be fixed," Blanche added. During one exchange, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal asked if Blanche would "apologise" to Epstein survivors. "I will absolutely say that any mistake that we made should not have been made," Blanche said. "And I very much apologise."

Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, asked Blanche about calls that Trump should serve a third term, which is prohibited under the US Constitution. "Is President Trump, just as a simple matter of constitutional law, eligible to run for another term as president in 2028?" Coons asked. "I don't believe he is, no," Blanche responded.

Blanche, in comparison to Bondi, was more measured -- responding to pointed questions with technical and lawyerly responses. At times, however, Blanche allowed flashes of the pugnacious defence attorney. "That's an extraordinarily obnoxious question, Senator," Blanche told Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. Later, Blanche took issue with Democratic Senator Cory Booker's rapid-fire questioning about a proposed merger between Paramount and Warner-Brothers Discovery. "You don't even let me answer, man," Blanche exclaimed. Overall, Republicans appeared likely to support Blanche's nomination despite critiques of his work on the Epstein files.