Blanche withdraws Trump fund plan in writing, ahead of AG confirmation vote
Two Republican senators wanted a written guarantee that Trump would not revive a controversial proposal.
Todd Blanche, the acting US Attorney General, has formally rescinded President Donald Trump's proposal for a fund that could have been used to compensate individuals prosecuted in connection with the 2021 US Capitol riot. This action paves the way for Blanche's permanent confirmation by US senators.
Previously, the Republican Party lacked sufficient votes for Blanche's confirmation because two senators were not satisfied with verbal assurances that the fund was no longer active.
Late Sunday, Blanche posted on X, stating he had "met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions." His post included a copy of a signed written order, which explicitly states: "This Order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund."
The proposed $1.8 billion "anti-weaponisation" fund, announced earlier this year, was intended to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding the leak of his tax returns. It would have allowed Trump's allies to seek compensation for what they claimed were politically motivated prosecutions by previous administrations.
A second concern for the two holdout senators was that the deal also protected the president, his family, and their businesses from IRS audits of their past tax returns. They sought to narrow the scope of this provision. Blanche addressed this in a second X post, stating he had clarified the language regarding IRS immunity.
The fund plan and the tax audit provision raised alarms among Democrats and some Republicans, who feared it could lead to payments for individuals prosecuted for their involvement in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, including those convicted of assaulting police officers. Following the backlash, Blanche abandoned the plan, and a federal judge also blocked the fund, citing ethical concerns.
Despite Blanche's public statements to senators that the proposal had been scrapped, these were insufficient to satisfy the Republican holdouts. The two senators who stalled Blanche's confirmation were John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, whose terms both conclude in January.
A spokesperson for Senator Cornyn informed CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that Cornyn had "reached an agreement with the Department of Justice" concerning the fund. Senator Tillis has not yet commented. However, in his most recent remarks on the issue, responding to Trump's threat to revive the plan, Tillis expressed concern that the president still harbored a plan to establish a "payout pot for punks." He described the political impasse as "unfortunate," as he considered Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, qualified for the attorney general position.
Prior to Blanche's Sunday post, Trump himself issued conflicting statements regarding the future of both the fund and Blanche's nomination. On Friday, he declared the fund "dead," but over the weekend, he subsequently threatened to reinstate the plan if members of his party did not approve Blanche. In recent days, he also indicated he was considering withdrawing Blanche's nomination due to the stalled confirmation process.
The US Senate Judiciary Committee has a meeting scheduled for Tuesday, which may include a vote on Blanche's nomination.