At a fiery hearing, President Trump’s pick for Attorney General faces tough questions

0:00It's Consider This, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, a high-stakes confirmation hearing for President Trump's controversial attorney general nominee. I'm here today to earn your trust once more. Todd Blanche appeared today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He's a former federal prosecutor who served as President Trump's personal defense lawyer. Blanche is the acting attorney general, and he is trying to convince lawmakers on Capitol Hill that he deserves to keep the job officially. I rose through the ranks of the Department of Justice as a line prosecutor, then a division chief, then as of last year, deputy attorney general and now acting attorney general.

0:40But Blanche's nomination has faced pushback. He's never been able to shed the role of Donald Trump defender, Donald Trump criminal defense lawyer. That's Adam Schiff, Democratic senator from California, who sits on the Judiciary Committee speaking to NPR before the confirmation hearing Wednesday morning. He's approached every issue that's come before him through that lens of protecting his client. His client should be the American people, but he views his client as Donald Trump. Trump's nominee is facing serious questions, ranging from the politicization of the Justice Department to how he handled the Epstein files.

1:13Consider this. Todd Blanche is Trump's pick for the top job at DOJ, but his nomination comes with a checkered record that will be at the center of this hearing. What did we learn after the first day?

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2:53It's Consider This from NPR. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was on Capitol Hill Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to lead the Justice Department. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas was watching and joins us now. Hey, Ryan. Hi there. High stakes hearing for Blanche. Republicans have a very slim majority in the Senate, which means his path to confirmation is pretty narrow. How did he try and make his case today? Well, look, Democrats are united in their opposition to Blanche's nomination. They say he's weaponized the department to go after President Trump's perceived enemies. They criticize his handling of the Epstein files, the firing of apolitical career employees at the Justice Department.

3:30The list really goes on and on. But for better or worse, when it comes to this confirmation, Blanche knows he really only has to worry about keeping all of the Republican senators on board. How did he go about doing that then? Well, he defended his track record. He tried to talk up the department's efforts to combat violent crime, to go after drug cartels and gangs. He also talked about what the department has been doing to fight fraud. And on that front, he pointed to the new fraud division. The department has stood up under this administration. Now, what was notable to me is that Blanche appeared a couple of times to subtly try to distance himself from some of the president's controversial actions.

4:04One example being the president's blanket pardons for January 6 rioters. Blanche told senators the president has the constitutional authority to grant those pardons, but Blanche also said that he himself did not celebrate them. And that gets to the core question here, right? The question of whether Blanche and this Justice Department can be independent from this White House. You're right. That absolutely is an overarching concern, certainly for Democrats about Blanche, in part because Blanche previously served as President Trump's personal defense attorney. And ironically, it was a question from a Republican, Louisiana's John Kennedy, that was perhaps most revealing on this issue.

4:42Let's listen. Are you and President Trump friends? I'm his lawyer, was his lawyer, and now I'm the deputy attorney general. Interesting slip of the tongue there, perhaps? Right. Yes. And Democrats certainly would argue that Blanche continues to act like President Trump's personal attorney to put the president's interests first and the public interest second. And one thing that they point to is the Justice Department's agreement with Trump to end his lawsuit against the IRS over his leaked tax returns. That settlement, of course, included the creation of a$1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. Blanche reiterated today that that fund is dead.

5:19But it also includes a sweeping immunity agreement for Trump, his family, and businesses from audits of past tax returns. And that very much remains in place. And one of the notable things about the response to that fund was the concern that so many Republicans stated. What did they ask about today? Well, Texas' John Cornyn is one of the committee Republicans who has spoken out about this. And he really dug down on this settlement agreement today. He noted, even though Blanche says the anti-weaponization fund is dead, Cornyn pointed out that language of the agreement itself would indicate that that fund could be resurrected.

5:51That was clearly a concern for Cornyn. And afterwards, Cornyn told reporters that he's still undecided on Blanche's nomination. The other committee Republican who is seen as a potential no vote is North Carolina's Tom Tillis. But he told Blanche during the hearing that Blanche was doing a great job. So Tillis appears to be leaning toward supporting this nomination. Looking ahead, Blanche needs the support of every Republican on the committee to advance his nomination to the full Senate for a vote. So the margins here are very, very tight. The stakes, of course, are high because of how important this job is to the president, to his agenda.

6:28But also it's worth remembering this is very important to the rule of law in this country. That is NPR Justice Correspondent Ryan Lucas. Thank you so much. Thank you. Todd Blanche's handling of the files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were front and center Wednesday. About 10 survivors of Epstein's abuse were in the room for the hearing. NPR's Ava Berger shares the experience of one of them. On a recent morning at home in New Jersey, Danny Benski and her son sat at their kitchen table, along with two stuffed bunnies and a Pokemon ball. She's helping six-year-old Dax write an end-of-year thank you note for his kindergarten teacher.

7:03Yeah, this is going to get to the top of you. Totally. So I think thank you for being there goes on this side. Benski is 39 with bright blonde hair. She's full of energy and smiles. There are a million thoughts racing through her mind. There's no real escaping, you know. Benski is scheduled to be a witness for the Democrats at Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing. And by escaping, Benski means that that advocacy work now revolves around the trauma that left her with a diagnosis of PTSD. I met Jeffrey Epstein in 2004. I was there for roughly the year. Benski says Epstein began abusing her when she was 17 and a ballet dancer in New York.

7:43She gave Epstein massages in his penthouse, and that, she says, escalated into him asking her to undress. When people ask you to recount your abuse, a lot of the time for survivors, it feels like you're walking into your own coma because you tried so hard to avoid what was happening actively to you, and now you're trying to remember all the parts that you blacked out. Benski's dining room table is covered with photos of her dressed in black leotards and pink tights. They're a reminder of the girl she was before and then after Epstein came into her life. As she talked, Benski flipped through the photos.

8:16I get really sad for the kid and for the person that I think I probably could have been if I stuck with dance in the way that I originally intended. Last September, Benski joined a prominent group of Epstein survivors advocating for justice. Since then, the Department of Justice has released millions of documents related to Epstein. But still, no one other than Epstein's associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been tried and sentenced. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. What's happening? Good morning. In early June, Benski met up with fellow survivor Annie Farmer.

8:55The two were in a crowded hotel lobby before taking the stage at a conference in D.C. with other advocates. Farmer has testified twice in court about Epstein and Maxwell's abuse. She says before Congress required the release of the Epstein files. I came in with a heavy amount of skepticism. And now? You know, it doesn't feel like enough, but I think also it's something that we didn't have for a long time. As the pair talked, they laughed and joked, like about how a photo of Benski's chihuahua was redacted in the files, but not Benski's private information. You're either crying laughing or you're crying sad, right?

9:27And I would rather be crying laughing than crying sad. For Farmer, the advocacy is now rooted in a greater cause. People get so in the weeds and focused on just one case. And so I think that's frustrating. I want people to understand it as part of a wider issue. These days in D.C. are long and emotionally draining. The conference was an all-day affair of panels. When survivors speak, change happens. Thank you all. The survivors were constantly being pulled to the side to meet fellow activists and local officials, like New Mexico's attorney general. For some, the emotional toll manifested physically.

10:03One woman spent hours throwing up, and Benski ran around fighting crackers and a seltzer. It's this family they created out of so much pain that keeps them going, she said. Hey, Mom, can I run ahead? Yeah, you can run ahead. Go ahead. Back at home, Benski sometimes wishes she could spend all day in bed watching crappy TV after these trips like the recent one to D.C. But Dax needs his mom to walk him to school. And this is my playground. This is your playground. This is where I get recess. Benski drops into her local coffee shop on her way home, where the barista knows she's an Epstein survivor.

10:36She says it can be frustrating. We do have kids. We do have lives. We are real people. Like, I, again, like, I was a dance teacher choreographer. Like, that has always been my passion. And yet again, it feels like Jeffrey has a way of constantly derailing your life. Maybe someday they'll remove the name Epstein from Epstein survivors, she says. But for now, he's still as present in their lives as ever. This episode was produced by Tyler Bartlom, Megan Lim, and Karen Zamora with audio engineering by Ted Meebane. Our director is Jonas Adams. It was edited by Maureen Pau, Anna Yukononoff, and Timbeet Aramias.

11:12Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dornick.

11:19It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. The last phase of the World Cup is underway, and the NPR network has been there since the first whistle. Cape Byrd is a small African island nation that surprised everyone by making it to the World Cup. Ronaldo did something no man or woman has done before. He scored goals in six different World Cups for a total of... As we enter the final matches of the tournament, head to the NPR app for all things World Cup from the NPR network. This is Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. From mail-in ballots to racial gerrymandering, a lot is at stake for America's free and fair elections.

11:55I spoke with journalist Ari Berman about what he calls a final blow to the Voting Rights Act. My fear is that we are returning to a politics of Jim Crow in the South. Listen to Fresh Air on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.