~ Senators seek to determine whether Todd Blanche knowingly and willfully provided untruthful testimony during his nomination hearing ~
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Chris Coons (D-DE), and seven colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, requesting documents to determine the veracity of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his nomination hearing. The Senators’ letter comes as recent public reporting has raised questions as to whether Mr. Blanche testified truthfully to Senators at the hearing and in written Questions for the Record, especially regarding his knowledge of plans to dismiss the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
“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,” wrote the Senators. “Congress has an obligation to investigate whether Mr. Blanche provided untruthful testimony before the Judiciary Committee, including whether a referral to the Department of Justice for a criminal inquiry is warranted.”
At the time of his hearing, Mr. Blanche was a private citizen and not an employee of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Two days before his hearing, news broke that the DOJ intended to drop criminal corruption charges against Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City. Senator Welch asked Mr. Blanche if he was aware of the instructions to dismiss the charges, and Blanche responded, “I have the same information you have. It appears it was, yes.” In response to Senator Coons’ question regarding the basis for the dropping of charges, Mr. Blanche stated, “I have no idea.” And in response to Senator Booker’s written Questions for the Record, Mr. Blanche stated in writing that he didn’t know why the charges in Mayor Adams’ case were dismissed. However, recent reporting suggests that Mr. Blanche may have been aware of the orders to dismiss the case against Mayor Adams almost two weeks before he testified.
In their letter, the Senators requested the following documentation from the Justice Department:
In addition to Senators Hirono, Welch, and Coons, the letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
The full text of the letter is available here.
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