Welcome back to The Red Letter.
Yesterday I streamed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's congressional hearing live with my reporting, analysis and Abi Baker inside the room. The replay didn't get sent to subscribers last night, so I'm sharing it this morning in case you missed it.
A few things stood out to me from Blanche’s testimony:
Blanche testified that the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund was President Trump’s idea, even as the White House has increasingly distanced itself from the controversial program. He also announced that it was dead, although he wouldn’t put it in writing. It raises an interesting question: could Blanche find himself in the same position as ex-Secretaries Pam Bondi or Kristi Noem—taking heat for an unpopular policy while refusing to shift blame away from the president?
He did not back away from the administration’s decision to grant Trump and his family immunity from IRS claims that could have exposed them to roughly $100 million in potential penalties, nor did he retreat from defending the IRS settlement over the leaking of Trump’s tax information.
On Jeffrey Epstein, Blanche appeared visibly indignant when questioned by lawmakers. He claimed he has offered to meet with all Epstein survivors. Based on my reporting, that is not true.
Blanche also continued to insist there is no evidence of third-party co-conspirators in the Epstein case, despite survivor testimony alleging the opposite.
One of the most revealing moments came when Congresswoman Dean raised a document prepared for former U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman that outlined potential Epstein co-conspirators. The catch? The document remains heavily redacted, leaving many of those questions unanswered.
Watch above or below for my full analysis and the key moments from the hearing.
Thank you Christopher Hale, Jim Bourg, Ashleigh Alauren, Abi Baker, Peter W Shuster, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.
