U.S. lawmakers are raising concerns about the testimony given by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche during his nomination hearing. Senator Mazie K. Hirono, alongside Senators Peter Welch, Chris Coons, and others, has sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi seeking documents to verify whether Mr. Blanche provided truthful answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee. This inquiry follows public reports questioning the accuracy of Mr. Blanche's testimony, particularly concerning his knowledge of plans to dismiss a criminal case involving New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The Senators emphasized, “As you are aware, all nominees who come before the Senate Judiciary Committee provide testimony under oath. It is a federal crime to ‘knowingly and willfully’ provide ‘any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation’ while under oath with respect to ‘any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee.” They also stressed Congress's responsibility to investigate any possible untruthful testimony and determine if a criminal inquiry is needed.
At the time of his nomination hearing, Blanche was a private citizen. According to the Senators, recent developments suggest Blanche might have been informed about the decision to drop charges against Mayor Adams two weeks before his Senate appearance. The case in question pertains to corruption charges that were reportedly set to be dismissed by the Justice Department shortly before Blanche’s testimony. In response to questions during the hearing, Blanche claimed, “I have the same information you have. It appears it was, yes.” He also expressed ignorance regarding the reasoning behind the charge dismissal.
The letter from the Senators demands the Justice Department provide documents concerning Todd Blanche’s involvement in the decision to drop the charges against Mayor Adams. They are particularly interested in records and communications between Blanche and then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove III.
Along with Senators Hirono, Welch, and Coons, the letter has been signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, Dick Durbin, Amy Klobuchar, Alex Padilla, Adam Schiff, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
The full letter is available for public viewing.