Todd Blanche said he hopes to earn senators' trust as he testified at his confirmation hearing to become attorney general on Wednesday, highlighting his work at the Justice Department while criticizing what he called the Biden administration's weaponization of the department.
"Seventeen months ago, I sat at this table as the nominee to be the deputy attorney general, and I told you that serving in the Department of Justice was my American dream," he said in his opening statement. "Since then, I have helped lead it first as deputy and now as acting attorney general, and I'm here today to earn your trust once more."
Mr. Blanche highlighted the Trump administration's federal enforcement surges in major cities, prosecutions of alleged gang members and crackdown on fraud, and said the department was "fixing" what he described as weaponization under the Biden administration.
"Above all, we are restoring American trust.
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.
We are fixing that," he said. "Members of this committee on both sides have fair questions about the hard debates of the past year, and I welcome them."
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