Patty Murray, WA
“I am voting against Todd Blanche. He is corrupt and protected Donald Trump and his family. He mishandled records about Jeffrey Epstein and mistreated victims. He also said privately that he wants to ban abortion in every state.”
“Mr. President, I was never going to come out here and support Todd Blanche for a long list of reasons. I do believe he is one of the most corrupt Justice Department officials in our country’s history, for one. He was Trump’s former personal lawyer, and it seems that he never quit. The only difference now is that taxpayers are signing his checks instead of Trump. He was the one who negotiated a $1.8 billion slush fund to pay off violent insurrectionists and who cut a backroom deal to give the President and his entire corrupt family immunity from IRS investigations, not to forget that Todd Blanche is the guy who botched the Epstein file so badly that survivors had their names and faces exposed while the names of alleged abusers were hidden. This is a man who wouldn’t meet with survivors until Senators put him under a tremendous amount of public pressure. When the meeting eventually got on the books, the survivors made it crystal clear Blanche didn’t listen to them. He was more interested in checking a box than in hearing their stories or bringing them justice. All of that is, of course, absolutely unacceptable and disqualifying, but I come here today to sound the alarm on some of the most disturbing comments I have ever heard from the Nation’s top law enforcement official. I guess Todd Blanche thought no one was listening because, on a private call with anti-abortion activists, Mr. Blanche told us all exactly what he plans to do if Senators confirm him. His goal was to make the Dobbs decision ``permanent in every single state’’--``every single state’’--not just in Texas or Idaho. He wants to ban abortion in Washington State, in California, in New York--in every State. He told them: Victory over what exactly? Victory over women who just want to make their own healthcare decisions? Victory over patients in States where abortion is legal--where voters have said over and over at the ballot box: Keep your hands off our rights? A DOJ spokesperson tried to clean up Blanche’s words, saying he was only focused on restricting access to medication abortion in all 50 States, as if that is somehow better. I am here to say: I will believe the tape. I believe Todd Blanche’s own words. So let’s be crystal clear about what this vote is. A vote to confirm Todd Blanche is a vote to endorse his fight to ban abortion in all 50 States. Whatever happened to this being a State’s decision? Every Republican who votes yes is voting for exactly that--his words, not mine--and any Republican who votes to confirm him will own that in every State, in every way. This isn’t just a confirmation vote anymore; it is a rollcall vote in which Senators endorse banning abortion in all 50 States at the Federal level. I am voting no. I yield the floor.”
Mr. President, I was never going to come out here and support Todd Blanche for a long list of reasons. I do believe he is one of the most corrupt Justice Department officials in our country’s history, for one. He was Trump’s former personal lawyer, and it seems that he never quit. The only difference now is that taxpayers are signing his checks instead of Trump. He was the one who negotiated a $1.8 billion slush fund to pay off violent insurrectionists and who cut a backroom deal to give the President and his entire corrupt family immunity from IRS investigations, not to forget that Todd Blanche is the guy who botched the Epstein file so badly that survivors had their names and faces exposed while the names of alleged abusers were hidden. This is a man who wouldn’t meet with survivors until Senators put him under a tremendous amount of public pressure. When the meeting eventually got on the books, the survivors made it crystal clear Blanche didn’t listen to them. He was more interested in checking a box than in hearing their stories or bringing them justice. All of that is, of course, absolutely unacceptable and disqualifying, but I come here today to sound the alarm on some of the most disturbing comments I have ever heard from the Nation’s top law enforcement official. I guess Todd Blanche thought no one was listening because, on a private call with anti-abortion activists, Mr. Blanche told us all exactly what he plans to do if Senators confirm him. His goal was to make the Dobbs decision ``permanent in every single state’’--``every single state’’--not just in Texas or Idaho. He wants to ban abortion in Washington State, in California, in New York--in every State. He told them: Victory over what exactly? Victory over women who just want to make their own healthcare decisions? Victory over patients in States where abortion is legal--where voters have said over and over at the ballot box: Keep your hands off our rights? A DOJ spokesperson tried to clean up Blanche’s words, saying he was only focused on restricting access to medication abortion in all 50 States, as if that is somehow better. I am here to say: I will believe the tape. I believe Todd Blanche’s own words. So let’s be crystal clear about what this vote is. A vote to confirm Todd Blanche is a vote to endorse his fight to ban abortion in all 50 States. Whatever happened to this being a State’s decision? Every Republican who votes yes is voting for exactly that--his words, not mine--and any Republican who votes to confirm him will own that in every State, in every way. This isn’t just a confirmation vote anymore; it is a rollcall vote in which Senators endorse banning abortion in all 50 States at the Federal level. I am voting no. I yield the floor.