Blanche confronts skeptical questioning of fund, tax deal for Trump at Senate confirmation hearing

WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche confronted skeptical questions at a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday about the creation of a fund to compensate President Donald Trump's allies and a tax immunity deal for the president as he aimed to lock down the Republican support needed to advance his nomination.

Blanche insisted that the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” which was scrapped after fierce bipartisan backlash, was “not moving forward.” But lawmakers, including Republican Sen. John Cornyn, conveyed concerns that the Trump administration has yet to commit in writing that the fund is dead and could therefore conceivably be resurrected.

“Just to be clear, the president of the United States, who's a plaintiff in this lawsuit, has not agreed in writing to delete the weaponization fund and there’s no guarantee that he or one of the other plaintiffs" won’t raise the issue in the future, Cornyn asked. Blanche replied that Trump has no power over the fund, which was to have been administered by the Justice Department but was never launched.

Cornyn's questions were closely watched since Blanche requires the backing of all Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and the Texas senator has not committed his support.

The hearing arrived at a tumultuous time for the Justice Department, with mass firings and resignations having hollowed out the workforce and Democrats and other critics raising alarms that Blanche is still functioning as Trump's personal lawyer. He has led the department on an interim basis since April, functioning as the public face of the maligned fund and accelerating investigations into perceived Trump adversaries. Even as he said the fund was shelved, he made clear that immunity from tax audits afforded to Trump this year remained in place despite a congressional outcry.

Those actions, plus the flawed release of files from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation, received fresh scrutiny Wednesday.

“You’re in charge of a Department of Justice I don’t recognize, prosecuting the president’s political enemies, firing rank and file prosecutors and FBI agents,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware told Blanche. “These are some actions that in your previous confirmation hearing before us, you said you would not take.”

Blanche, for his part, pointed to investigations into Trump during the Biden administration to argue that he had inherited a politicized Justice Department.

“In recent years, we watched the Justice Department turned against many of you and a former president, and it damaged the public’s faith in justice,” Blanche argued. “We are fixing that."

Key to Blanche's confirmation are Cornyn of Texas, who in May lost his primary, and Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who has opted not to seek reelection. In the final stretches of their Senate career, both are seen as more likely than before to split from Trump and both have been outspoken critics of the fund the Trump administration created to compensate people who feel unjustly persecuted by the criminal justice system.

After questioning Blanche, Cornyn told CNN he continues “to have some concerns” and is not “going to make any decisions at this point.” Tillis, meanwhile, indicated during questioning that he is likely to support Blanche, even as he said he wanted “to stick a fork in this turkey of a 1776 fund."

The death of South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was a member of the committee, left 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the panel. With Democrats united in solidarity against Blanche, =a no-vote by even a single Republican on the panel would scuttle Blanche's nomination.

The fund emerged from a settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns. Blanche had initially defended the initiative only to later reveal that it was being scrapped amid fierce bipartisan backlash.

The judge handling the case said in a scathing ruling Monday that Trump had effectively engaged in self-dealing through the lawsuit. She said she was troubled Blanche had signed the settlement given his prior representation of Trump and was concerned the acting attorney general had given misleading testimony. Blanche said Wednesday that he disagreed “with the judge's insinuations about me.”

Blanche also defended a separate element of the settlement that afforded Trump and members of his family protection from tax audits and that, he has said, remains on track. He said the deal covers any existing audits but does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.

“Nobody is above the law,” Blanche said. Such a settlement "doesn’t make any of those individuals above the law.”

Blanche was also pressed on the department's staggered release of the Epstein files, a process beset by problems, including redaction errors that left exposed nude photos showing the faces of potential victims.

During a podcast interview with Joe Rogan released Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance said the administration “absolutely” mishandled the communications surrounding the files, including when then-Attorney General Pam Bondi distributed binders of Epstein documents at the White House to far-right influencers that contained already-public material.

Blanche acknowledged that “mistakes were made" in the release process but nonetheless defended the work.

“I want to make sure that the American people know that this administration, when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, has been more transparent than any administration,” he said. The Justice Department only released additional files after Trump bowed to bipartisan pressure to sign a law forcing the department to do so.

A former federal prosecutor and key member of Trump's defense team as the Republican battled four indictments, Blanche arrived at the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. At one point, under friendly questioning from Republican Sen. John Kennedy about whether he and Trump are friends, Blanche responded: “I’m his lawyer,” before quickly correcting himself to say he “was his lawyer.”

He ascended to the top job in April after Trump ousted Bondi, who had frustrated the White House by struggling to bring successful cases against Trump's political opponents. Blanche has tried to satisfy Trump in that regard, including with an indictment of ex-FBI Director James Comey, another Trump adversary, on charges of threatening the 47th president by posting a social media photograph of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47.”

Comey has said the numbers were not a call to violence.

Tillis, who has said he would not support for attorney general anyone who equivocates on the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, asked Blanche if he agreed that any Capitol Police officer assaulted that day was the “victim of a heinous crime.” Blanche said he agreed.

Democrats, meanwhile, pressed Blanche on the violence and Trump’s sweeping clemency action benefiting more than 1,500 people, including those convicted of violently attacking police.

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse criticized Blanche for comments at a political conference this year where he appeared to characterize the Jan. 6 pardons as an administration accomplishment. Blanche replied that he has “never said that any sort of violence against law enforcement is appropriate.”

“He has the absolute right to pardon anybody for any reason he sees fit,” Blanche said of the president. “I am not celebrating that. It is a fact.”

Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard and Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Miami took away the deep pass in the season opener, so the Las Vegas Raiders relied on their rushing and short-yard passing game to beat the Dolphins.

Then on Sunday, the Chargers made sure they wouldn't be beaten on the ground, so Las Vegas took the air with an aggressive passing attack to defeat Los Angeles.

Two different opponents, two different ways for the offense to succeed for the surprising 2-0 Raiders.

“There’s a lot of ways to win a game,” coach Klint Kubiak said Monday. "Offense, defense and special teams all playing together is the best way to ensure a win. But it’s never going to be perfect, and I thought big credit to the Chargers that took away the run game.”

The run game was crucial to beating the Dolphins with Ashton Jeanty rushing for 102 yards and Mike Washington Jr. for 41. Kirk Cousins passed for 160 yards, averaging 7.6 yards in the air per attempt, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Cousins upped that average to 9.4 against the Chargers, passing for 253 yards that included two completions of 40-plus yards to Tre Tucker. Jeanty, meanwhile, rushed for 48 yards on 21 carries and Washington was given just three attempts that produced 7 yards.

But even though the Raiders opened up the passing attack, the fact Jeanty still carried 21 times underscored Kubiak's commitment to running the offense through the ground game.

“That’s always going to be a part of it,” Kubiak said. “I thought Cousins did a great job of going through his progressions and getting it to the back when it wasn’t there, and our receivers did a good job getting up and down the field.”

And now the Raiders are 2-0, the first team to open a season with that record after winning three or fewer games the previous year since Houston in 2014.

This also is the Raiders' first 2-0 start since 2021, the most recent time they made the playoffs.

“I think it just reinforces the messages that we’ve been sending,” Kubiak said. "Our guys have been very coachable and our guys want to win. Winning is important to this team, it’s important to this coaching staff. We also have very short memories and know that you can only win one at a time. So we’re turning the page and now we get to prepare to play a really good Saints team.”

The pass rush continues to flourish, and it's not all Maxx Crosby. Las Vegas has eight sacks, tied with two other teams to lead the NFL entering Monday and its 47.1% pressure rate is second, according to TruMedia. Crosby has 1 1/2 sacks, which occurred in the opener against Miami. He was responsible for forcing a holding penalty in the end zone against the Chargers that resulted in a safety.

Offense has dried up during some stretches in the first two games, and much of that is because of the Raiders' struggles on third downs. They have converted a third of their chances, which is tied with Seattle for 22nd entering Monday.

So much for not having a true No. 1 receiver or tight end Brock Bowers, who hasn't played this season because of knee surgery. Tucker caught five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. Cody White, called up from the practice squad, hauled in two TD passes, a 13-yarder in tight coverage to take the lead in the third quarter and 11-yarder in the fourth to essentially seal the victory. He is the first player since 2016 to score two TD passes despite playing seven or fewer snaps.

Forget his 2.3-yard rushing average. Jeanty didn't have a lot of room to run because the Raiders' offensive line was overwhelmed by the Chargers' defensive front. But his three dropped passes are difficult to ignore. The last one occurred on third-and-1 with 6:59 left and the Raiders clinging to a 17-14 lead. Las Vegas got the job done in the end, but that drop could have been costly.

Bowers (knee) will practice this week, Kubiak said. He almost was cleared to play at Los Angeles. CB Darien Porter (foot) will be evaluated in practice Wednesday. S Treydan Stukes is in concussion protocol.

14 — The Raiders have allowed those number of points or fewer in each of the first two games for the first time since 1995. Going back to last season, Las Vegas has held opponents to that mark or less three games in a row, the first time the Raiders have accomplished that since 2006.

The Raiders visit New Orleans on Sunday.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Cody White celebrates his touchdown catch during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Inglewood, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Katie Chin)

Las Vegas Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn (11) celebrates after recovering a fumble by Los Angeles Chargers running back Omarion Hampton during the second half of an NFL football game in Inglewood, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Katie Chin)

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) celebrates with teammates after throwing a touchdown pass to wide receiver Cody White during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Inglewood, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)