05.19.26

Murray on Trump's new $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded MAGA slush fund : "What we are talking about is nothing short of the sitting President of the United States looting from the Treasury for his own gain."

When pressed by Murray, Blanche refuses to directly apologize to Epstein victims for DOJ's failure to protect their privacy

***WATCH : Senator Murray's full questioning***

Washington, D.C. - Today-at a Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Subcommittee hearing on the FY27 budget request for the Department of Justice (DOJ)-U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, grilled Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on how, under President Trump and Blanche, DOJ has become a tool for Trump to pursue vengeance, enrich himself, and reward his loyal allies who have committed crimes with both pardons and pay outs.

[TRUMP'S $1.8 BILLION MAGA SLUSH FUND]

Senator Murray began by pressing Acting Attorney General Blanche on DOJ announcing on Monday the establishment of a $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund to dole out payments to President Trump's allies, likely including January 6^th insurrectionists.

MURRAY: Acting Attorney General, right now families are paying four, five-even six or seven dollars for gas. Inflation is at its highest level in years because of the president's policies, but instead of helping Americans get by, President Trump is literally using their tax dollars to set up a slush fund to enrich his own friends.

On Monday, your department settled the president's lawsuit by setting up a fund with $1.8 billion, and you and the president will pick the handful of people who decide how that money gets doled out. So let's be clear: what we are talking about is nothing short of the sitting President of the United States looting from the Treasury for his own gain.

Do you seriously think this arrangement is appropriate? The president telling the federal government to settle a case and let him pay billions to the people that he chooses?

BLANCHE: What you just described wouldn't be appropriate, and that's absolutely not what happened, and that's not what's happening now. So, you just set up a series of facts most of which that were not true to say as if-

MURRAY: No. They were true.

BLANCHE: No, it's not. I mean I-

MURRAY: The president has set up a slush fund-however you want to say it got set up-and he will literally get to choose through his handpicked appointees who gets paid that fund. That is absurd.

BLANCHE: So, the president did not set up this fund, it's not a slush fund. It's been done many times; we have lots of funds-

MURRAY: I heard your response earlier to Senator Van Hollen; this is not comparable to the case that you cited-a judge was not involved. This is the president versus himself, setting up a fund and-

BLANCHE: A judge was not involved in the distribution of the Keepseagle case at all. It just wasn't. There was a single commissioner that was set up-not five-and so when I-

MURRAY: The judge signed off on that case.

BLANCHE: Yes, it was a much later point in the litigation.

MURRAY: That's my point-that is all of our point. And I just have to tell you: this is corruption that has never been more blatant or more widespread. But what is happening is that you write the check, Trump and his cronies cash it. American taxpayers-who are already being whacked with high prices-are going to foot the bill. That is what we are seeing today and that is what many of us are really, really angry about.

[EPSTEIN FILES]

Senator Murray shared her anger over how DOJ handled the release of the Epstein files and pressed Acting Attorney General Blanche on whether he will apologize to the survivors and commit to meeting with them.

MURRAY: So let me move to another topic. This Department of Justice is sending the message that if you're wealthy, if you're powerful, if you are well-connected, you won't be held accountable, even if you abuse children.

You know it was after Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act and DOJ finally began to release the files-your department exposed survivors' names, their sensitive, personal information, and even nude photos while redacting names of alleged perpetrators of those crimes. The message that sends is this Department of Justice worked harder to protect the privacy of potential child abusers than the survivors.

Your predecessor refused to apologize to those victims, but I want to give you the same opportunity to apologize for the way the Department handled the release of these documents. Will you apologize to the survivors?

BLANCHE: When the president passed the Epstein Transparency Act, that was the only time-

MURRAY: Pardon me?

BLANCHE: When the president signed the Transparency Act, that was when we were legally allowed to release the files. Prior to the passage of the act, which you all passed, I agree-

MURRAY: That is so not the question I'm asking. I'm asking-

BLANCHE: It was the question you asked, you asked five or six questions, I'm answering them in order-

MURRAY: The question I want you to answer is: will you apologize to the victims whose names, sensitive, personal information and even nude photos were not redacted by your department? Will you apologize to them?

BLANCHE: Of course, that was-we never want to release a single victim's name-

MURRAY: That is what we are wanting to hear-

BLANCHE: Can I answer the question please, is it fair?

MURRAY: I'm asking if you'll apologize.

BLANCHE: And I just said yes, and I would like an explanation to be given to that. What this act did is it required us to review over six million pieces of paper in a very short period of time. So, 0.001%, we made mistakes and we owned up to them, and the second a victim or their lawyer told us we made a mistake, we pulled that document down and we put lawyers 24/7 in being responsive to victims and their lawyers to make sure that we fixed every single problem. So yes-

MURRAY: I hear your anger-

BLANCHE: I'm not angry, no, I'm not angry-

MURRAY: I hear your anger and I will tell you who is really angry is the people who had their nude photos released-

BLANCHE: I'm just making sure it's understood that we matter.

MURRAY: I just want to hear you say I apologize to those victims.

BLANCHE: So, as I just said, of course any time that we release a victim's name that shouldn't be released-we have failed as a Department of Justice-and so we have to do everything we can to not fail-

MURRAY: Well, I still haven't heard the words "I apologize to those victims."

BLANCHE: Well, I'm trying to give you an explanation of what happened, but I don't think you're really interested in that because you keep on cutting me off.

MURRAY: Well, I am, but I have a few more questions here and I want to know-and I know that Senator Van Hollen raised this-but I want to ask will you personally commit to meeting with the survivors? I have heard from them personally that DOJ refused to meet them and I'm asking about you, I'm asking about the Justice Department reaching out to them to be heard. Not waiting for them to navigate a legal system that has obviously repeatedly failed them so far.

BLANCHE: Can I answer?

MURRAY: Yeah, will you reach out to them?

BLANCHE: So, as we have said repeatedly, of course any lawyer-now if the victim has a lawyer, I am not allowed to reach out to the victim directly, you know that-but any lawyer can reach out to the Department of Justice. They have and I've met with many victims and their lawyers, as has the FBI, as has the SDNY. We will always, always, meet with victim's counsel and if any victim or their lawyer can come forward to the FBI at any time-

MURRAY: You will always meet with victim's counsel. Well these women-and I've met with them and I know Senator Van Hollen has and so many others-they are personally so feeling abused, again and again and again by what happened to them originally and now what's happening by them. I am saying to you as a human being, don't make them navigate a system that's impossible to navigate, that has already abused them. Reach out and ask to meet with them, that's all I'm asking.

BLANCHE: Wait you're asking me to call-you want me to personally call the victims-is that what you are asking me to do?

MURRAY: I can help you reach them.

BLANCHE: Oh, that would be great. Yes, because we have said from day one that-

MURRAY: And you would meet with them if I reached out to them.

BLANCHE: Of course, there have been members who have done that and we immediately reach out to the victims or their lawyers when they lawyers say they want to do it.

MURRAY: Well, I'll follow up on that, thank you very much.

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