WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Friday she will oppose Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, narrowing the confirmation path for President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department.
The Alaska senator, who joins GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in opposing Blanche, cited the Justice Department's handling of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, a sweeping tax audit immunity deal for Trump and a proposed $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate the Republican president's allies.
“The country needs an Attorney General who will check the worst impulses of this administration," Murkowski said in a statement. “I hope Mr. Blanche is able to achieve that, if confirmed, but I simply do not have confidence that will be the case.”
Murkowski's opposition injects fresh uncertainty into Blanche's nomination, which has faced obstacles over a settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service regarding his leaked tax returns.
With Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky not attending Senate sessions, Blanche can only afford to lose two Republican votes if all Democrats oppose him. Another key Republican — Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who lost his primary after Trump backed his rival — is expected to announce Friday morning whether he supports Blanche's nomination.
Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, entered the department last year as deputy attorney general and was elevated to the top post in an acting role after Pam Bondi's ouster in April. While he could still run the department either as acting attorney general or deputy attorney general, his nomination failing would be a major political blow for the Trump administration.
Democrats and Republicans alike have expressed serious concerns about the settlement, which called for the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who feel mistreated by the criminal justice system and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits.
Murkowski said she is worried the Trump administration could proceed with the proposed “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” despite the Trump administration's promises that it is dead, noting that the Senate has leverage over the fund only because Blanche’s nomination is pending.
“Once we vote, that will end, and there is no telling what the future holds,” she said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Blanche's nomination only after a deal reached last weekend with two other Republican senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — who had been threatening to block his confirmation over aspects of the settlement.
Under the deal, Blanche formally rescinded the “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” writing in an order that “there is no Fund.”
The Justice Department also 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.
But Democrats say Blanche's order doesn't stop the Trump administration from reviving the fund after his confirmation and have called for legislation to permanently bar it. Trump has repeatedly defended the fund and has threatened to push forward with it if Republicans don't support Blanche's nomination.
Lawmakers and legal experts have also questioned the lawfulness of the tax protections for Trump. A federal judge who oversaw the IRS case has described Trump's lawsuit as an improper exercise in self-dealing, and on Thursday the union representing IRS workers asked another judge to block the immunity agreement.
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