Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was called out by name in a recent ruling by Judge Kathleen Williams just days ahead of his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee
Speaking about the ruling on CNN, host Dana Bash and senior justice correspondent Evan Perez reported that there were a few Justice Department prosecutors named by the judge for possible disciplinary action.
As Perez reported, "The judge is calling out this entire thing, saying that this was essentially an attempt to defraud the court, because this was not really an adverse litigation. This was not the president suing an adverse party, but rather because the president controls the Justice Department and his own former personal lawyer essentially was involved in this, that there was really no two separate sides on this."
But then Blanche got his own take down from the judge.
"The day after the dismissal, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified before Congress," the ruling reads. "In response to a question as to why the 'settlement agreement' had not been provided to this Court for review, he replied that 'there is no judge' because the case had been dismissed and, therefore, there was 'no mechanism' for reviewing the 'settlement agreement.'"
"On that same day," the judge continued, "Acting Attorney General Blanche issued an 'order' (the 'Release Order') which referenced the 'settlement agreement' and released the President, his relatives, companies, and affiliates from 'any and all claims, counterclaims, [and] causes of actions; that 'have been or could have been asserted' against Plaintiffs that arise out of '(1) any matters that were raised or could have been raised in the Case or the Pending Agency Claims; (2) Lawfare and/or Weaponization; (3) any matters currently pending or that could be pending (including tax returns filed before the Effective Date) before Defendants or other agencies or departments.'"
Blanche's name and signature were on the "Release Order," she added.
"On June 2, 2026, in testimony before the United States House of Representatives, Acting Attorney General Blanche advised that the Anti-Weaponization Fund would not be moving forward," the judge added. "He did not, however, commit to a similar termination of the audit and immunity protections set forth in his Release Order. Six days later, President Trump nominated Mr. Blanche to permanently serve as Attorney General of the United States."
Blanche has continued to refuse to sign a legal document asserting that the slush fund is dead.
"She also points out that after Todd Blanche said that the fund was dead, he has refused to say in writing that it is dead forever, that there is not some other version of this that could be resuscitated," Perez said. "Of course, Dana, all of this is important timing because, of course, Todd Blanche is headed for his confirmation hearing on Wednesday before the Senate."
Bash confirmed, "This judge is effectively saying that Todd Blanche, who is the acting attorney general and is going to be, as you mentioned, up on Capitol Hill this week, for confirmation to be the permanent attorney general, maybe should be disbarred. Right?"
Perez agreed that the judge was "referring him to the Bar Associations."
