Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced sharp questions about ethical lapses over a deal that shielded his former client, President Donald Trump, from IRS scrutiny.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Blanche, the former Trump attorney who now leads the Justice Department, was asked about his role in crafting government deals that benefited the president.
In May, Blanche signed a settlement that permanently barred the Internal Revenue Service from auditing Trump or pursuing past tax claims against him, his family, or his businesses.
A federal judge in Miami voided the deal Monday and referred Blanche to the New York State Bar for potential discipline.
At the hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) pressed Blanche on whether the settlement also shielded Trump from liability tied to his criminal conviction for falsifying business records.
"You put your name on this. That absolves the president of tax liabilities in the past. The president was convicted in the case you represented him in," Schiff said.
"That's not what he was convicted of," Blanche replied.
"If the president is conspiring with others to falsify business records to help them cheat on taxes, he is also exposed to liability," Schiff pressed. "You know that as well as I do."
"He can't be audited for that," Blanche said.
"Of course he can," Schiff fired back.
Schiff then turned to the settlement itself, calling it a "staggering example of self-dealing" by a man who had represented Trump personally before joining the government to represent the IRS.
"You made the decision to not defend the IRS and the Justice Department. You made the decision to sign this slush fund agreement," Schiff said.
"We made the decision to settle the case. Correct," Blanche replied.
"The court found it was a sham," Schiff said. "What happened to the Todd Blanche who was a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York? What happened to the prosecutor people had respect for?"
Schiff said Blanche had become "someone willing to say the president has both the right and the duty to prosecute his political enemies."
"What happened to you, Todd Blanche?" Schiff demanded. "I think Robert Caro had it right when he said that power doesn't corrupt as much as it reveals."
"I am the same exact person I was when I was a federal prosecutor in the SDNY," Blanche insisted, using the abbreviation for the Southern District of New York. "Do the right thing, enforce the laws, and put bad guys in jail."
