Panel Likely to Advance Blanch AG Nom  08/04 06:35

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate committee is expected to vote Tuesday to advance 
acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination to lead the Justice 
Department after the former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump secured 
the support of Republican senators who threatened to block his confirmation.

   The Senate Judiciary Committee's vote follows a deal struck late Sunday 
between Blanche and GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North 
Carolina, who had demanded written assurances about the settlement of Trump's 
lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns.

   Cornyn and Tillis had said they were withholding their support unless the 
Justice Department confirmed in writing that it was not moving forward with a 
$1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were prosecuted 
for political purposes, which the Trump administration had announced as part of 
the settlement.

   After days of negotiations, Blanche issued an order Sunday evening 
confirming "beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."

   Since the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS was announced, "No 
Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving 
claims was established; no claims were paid," the order said.

   Cornyn and Tillis had also pressed for clarification on a separate part of 
the settlement that would grant Trump and members of his family immunity from 
tax audits.

   Under the deal, the Justice Department clarified in writing that the tax 
audit immunity agreement applies only to claims open at the time of the 
settlement and does not protect Trump from examination of future tax filings. 
It also makes clear that only the parties that brought the lawsuit -- Trump, 
two of his sons, and the Trump Organization -- are covered by the tax agreement.

   Democrats say Blanche's order doesn't go far enough to prevent the Trump 
administration from reviving the fund after the acting attorney general's 
confirmation and have called for legislation to permanently bar it. The order 
also doesn't stop the administration from compensating Trump allies -- 
including people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 -- through a 
previously established process that allows people to file claims for damages if 
they believed they were wronged by the government.

   Blanche has faced intense scrutiny regarding his ability to maintain 
independence from the White House, the Justice Department's pursuit of the 
president's political foes and the agency's handling of files related to 
disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking investigation.

   But it was the settlement of Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS 
that threatened to derail Blanche's nomination, forcing a delay in the 
committee vote last week amid pressure from the two Republican senators, who 
are not returning to Capitol Hill after their terms end in January.

   Trump's lawsuit has been sharply criticized because of the highly unusual 
way it was handled, with the president challenging an agency overseen by the 
executive branch he leads. A judge last month slammed the case as an improper 
exercise in self-dealing and referred one of Trump's attorneys who filed it for 
potential disciplinary action.

   Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and key member of Trump's defense team 
as the Republican battled four indictments, arrived at the Justice Department 
last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to acting attorney 
general following Attorney General Pam Bondi's failure to meet Trump's demands 
to successfully prosecute his perceived political opponents.

   While Blanche insisted he wasn't auditioning for the permanent post, he 
moved swiftly to accelerate investigations into Trump foes and advance other 
White House priorities, drawing condemnation from critics who say he has not 
shed his title as Trump's personal lawyer.

   Shortly after Blanche took the top post, the Justice Department moved to 
indict longtime Trump adversary James Comey, the former FBI director, on 
charges of threatening the 47th president by posting a social media photograph 
of seashells in the numerical arrangement of "86 47."

   Comey's lawyers have accused the Justice Department of misleading judges, 
submitting documents containing false statements and withholding key facts to 
bring what the defense described as a politically motivated prosecution.

   Blanche separately appointed Joseph diGenova, an 81-year-old former Justice 
Department prosecutor from the Reagan administration, to oversee a 
Florida-based investigation into whether former law enforcement and 
intelligence officials conspired over the last decade to undermine Trump.