2026-07-14T12:53:00-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
华盛顿讯——代理司法部长托德·布兰奇将于周三出席参议院司法委员会的确认听证会，以正式接任司法部长一职。届时他将面临针对其在司法部任职期间所涉热点问题的尖锐提问。
民主党人预计将就其认为存在政治化的起诉、司法部对杰弗里·爱泼斯坦相关文件的处理方式，以及他此前倡导的近18亿美元“反武器化”基金对他进行质询。
特朗普总统上月提名其前私人辩护律师布兰奇领导司法部，此前帕姆·邦迪于4月初被解职。自邦迪被解雇以来，布兰奇一直以临时身份履职。
尽管共和党在司法委员会中占据多数席位，但该党优势因南卡罗来纳州参议员林赛·格雷厄姆周六晚的意外去世而缩小。格雷厄姆是司法委员会资历最深的共和党议员之一，也是布兰奇的坚定支持者。
大多数观察人士认为，布兰奇大概率会在共和党主导的参议院以微弱优势获得确认。不过，他可能会面临司法委员会部分共和党议员的质疑，尤其是得克萨斯州参议员约翰·科宁和北卡罗来纳州参议员汤姆·蒂利斯。
“反武器化”基金与国税局协议
![2026年7月1日，托德·布兰奇代理司法部长在华盛顿特区司法部新闻发布会上发言。格拉米·斯隆/彭博社通过盖蒂图片社拍摄]
科宁、蒂利斯及其他共和党议员批评了国税局与特朗普先生达成的和解协议，该协议解决了一起因前政府承包商泄露总统税务记录引发的民事诉讼。
该协议要求在司法部设立新基金，用于赔偿所谓政府“武器化”行为的受害者，并豁免特朗普先生及其两个长子、其公司及相关关联公司未来的税务索赔。
在两党 backlash（强烈反对）声中，布兰奇上月在众议院委员会作证时表示，司法部正在取消该赔付计划。但他的表态并未平息“反武器化”计划及整体和解协议引发的风波。
周一，迈阿密的一名联邦法官斥责了司法部，并对特朗普先生的一名律师在国税局案件中的行为处以制裁，认定总统提起该诉讼“出于不当目的”。
该裁决引发了人们对布兰奇和司法部三号官员斯坦利·伍德沃德是否违反道德准则的质疑。裁决禁止他们在任何正式法庭或政府程序中援引该和解协议的条款作为和解证据。
在另一桩质疑司法部该基金合法性的案件中，特朗普政府上月拒绝向法院提交布兰奇和财政部长斯科特·贝森特的宣誓声明，该声明重申该基金已失效，并称该要求“毫无必要”。
弗吉尼亚州联邦法院定于周三就该案举行听证会，而布兰奇的确认听证会也将在当天进行。
布兰奇上月对记者重申：“答案始终如一，反武器化基金已经消亡，不会复活，也没有苟延残喘，它实际上从未真正启动过。”
司法部发言人驳回了迈阿密法官的裁决，称其“不正确”。
“本案中不存在任何串通行为，持党派立场的法官做出了相反的揣测，无视了数十年的先例。”该发言人表示。
“此案由特朗普总统以个人身份提起，同时他的几名家庭成员也参与其中，他们都是已承认的违法行为的受害者。当时存在未决争议，因为原告寻求的救济是政府未提供的。原告未获得任何赔偿，也被禁止从现已失效的反武器化基金中获得任何赔偿。”
布兰奇对特朗普政治优先事项的处理
邦迪离职前，布兰奇曾担任副司法部长。在任职期间，他监督了对前联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·科米和纽约州检察长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯的有争议起诉，这两人都是特朗普先生经常抨击的目标。在一名联邦法官认定起诉是由非法任命的 interim（临时）美国检察官发起后，两起案件均被驳回。司法部正对该裁决提起上诉。
科米面临另一项法律诉讼，他于4月被起诉，罪名是涉嫌威胁总统。去年他曾在Instagram上短暂发布一张图片，显示海滩上的贝壳排列成数字“86 47”，特朗普先生在Truth Social上称这是“‘干掉他’的暴徒用语”。
不过，在该起诉书公布后接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访的法律专家和前联邦检察官对司法部能否证明科米的言论不受第一修正案保护表示怀疑。科米很快从其社交媒体账户中删除了该图片，并表示他并未意识到部分人将这些数字与暴力行为联系起来。
他否认有任何不当行为，并将于9月出庭接受传讯。周二，其律师在法庭文件中表示，他们将以起诉具有选择性和报复性为由对检方提出质疑。
在针对萨尔瓦多人基尔马尔·阿夫雷戈·加西亚的刑事案件中，一名田纳西州联邦法官驳回了起诉书，认定检方具有报复性。该法官写道，布兰奇的公开评论及其他因素使对阿夫雷戈·加西亚的调查“带有报复动机”。阿夫雷戈·加西亚去年被错误驱逐至萨尔瓦多，后被带回美国面临人口走私指控。
司法部发言人将该法官斥为“激进分子”，称其裁决“错误且危险，试图将政治置于公共安全之上”。
布兰奇还就阿拉巴马州南部贫困法律中心正在进行的刑事调查多次发表不实言论，包括 falsely（错误地）声称该案件始于乔·拜登总统任期内。事实上，该调查是在特朗普第一任期内由时任司法部长杰夫·塞申斯启动的。布兰奇还错误地声称该非营利组织从未与执法部门共享关于仇恨团体的情报。
而他亲自会见爱泼斯坦的同伙、目前正在服刑20年的吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦的决定，在前检察官中引发了震惊，他们认为他的行为不当且不道德。
布兰奇在最高法院审理麦克斯韦性交易罪名上诉期间与其会面。两人会面后不久，麦克斯韦从佛罗里达州塔拉哈西的一所低安全级别的联邦惩教所转移到德克萨斯州的一所最低安全级别的监狱营地。
监狱管理局发言人此前表示，麦克斯韦的转移是出于安全原因，未获得任何优待。
布兰奇的职业生涯
与其他跻身司法部高层的人士相比，布兰奇的职业轨迹有些不同寻常。他在布鲁克林法学院夜校攻读学位期间，以法务助理身份开始在司法部工作。随后他在纽约南区联邦检察官办公室逐步晋升，该办公室是美国最引人瞩目的联邦检察官办公室之一。
那些在布兰奇担任纽约联邦检察官期间与其共事的人对他评价大多积极，他们告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，他在办公室从不谈论政治，被认为是一名可靠的检察官。他们形容他是个“好兄弟”，办公室的同事都喜欢下班后和他一起喝啤酒。
在纽约南区工作多年后，他离开该办公室加入了威嘉律师事务所。考虑到他在曼哈顿联邦检察官的经历，这一选择有些不同寻常——他从未成为该所的合伙人。据一位直接知情人士透露，布兰奇后来转到了前身为Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP的律所，并在大约两年后成为权益合伙人。
2023年，布兰奇离开该律所，代表特朗普先生应对纽约州对其提起的34项重罪指控，这些指控与2016年大选尾声支付的“封口费”有关。作为首席辩护律师，布兰奇经常与特朗普先生一起出现在曼哈顿一家法院的走廊里，该案件于2024年审结，特朗普被判所有罪名成立。
特朗普先生重返白宫后，提名布兰奇担任副司法部长。参议院以52票对46票确认了这一任命。
当时，许多司法部员工暂不做评判，认为布兰奇在纽约南区担任检察官的经历意味着他尊重司法部长期以来的规范，不会越界。
但几位持观望态度的人士告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，他们的希望已经破灭。
“司法部和白宫之间绝对没有任何壁垒，”前联邦检察官吉恩·罗西现在从事私人执业，他说，“布兰奇完全是按照特朗普的要求行事。”
一些了解布兰奇的人士表示，在他开始代表特朗普先生处理联邦和州刑事案件后，他发生了变化。
曾在纽约与布兰奇密切合作并一度视他为朋友的前联邦检察官米米·罗卡表示，她认为布兰奇已经彻底改变，他对司法部起诉特朗普先生的看法影响了他在司法部领导岗位上的判断。罗卡作为民主党人成功当选纽约韦斯特切斯特县地区检察官。
“我认为他的观点因代理特朗普的经历而发生了转变，”她说，“我确实认为他真心相信特朗普受到了迫害。”
“问题在于他将这种观点带到了这个职位上，在他看来似乎已经合理化了。在我看来，这才是真正令人不安的地方，”罗卡补充道。
在特朗普第二届政府任期内，司法部已有约1.6万名员工通过解雇、辞职和提前退休离开。由于人员流失，布兰奇还面临现任和前任司法部员工的敌意，他们认为他的领导对职业公职人员不利。
“布兰奇已经解雇或监督解雇了数百名此类员工——通常没有提前通知，且出于不当、非法的理由，”倡导组织“正义联系”在一封由约1200名前司法部员工签署的信中写道。
“其中一些人因参与过总统不喜欢的案件而被解雇；因是总统政敌的亲属而被解雇；因按照正当程序裁决移民案件而被解雇；因拒绝发起报复性起诉而被解雇；或因拒绝在法庭上作伪证而被解雇，”他们说，“这些解雇违反了旨在防止腐败和政治清洗的公务员法规。”
曾在司法部与布兰奇共事的前副司法部长助理阿比·坎布利表示，对他的任何道德担忧都“言过其实”。
“根据我的经验，托德·布兰奇非常谨慎，非常讲道德，而且很有分寸，”他告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。
一些司法部内部人士最初认为他是遏制白宫最极端冲动的温和力量，几位人士告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻。
但此后，从对科米的新起诉、对南部贫困法律中心的起诉，到提出反武器化基金，一些人表示他们认为布兰奇已经完全拥抱了MAGA运动——很可能是为了确保获得司法部长提名。
不过，布兰奇前幕僚长布莱恩·尼夫斯最近在《华尔街日报》上发表了一封信，赞扬他的领导能力，并敦促参议院迅速确认他的任命。
“我看到了镜头之外的领导力是什么样的，”他写道，“我参加过事实存在争议、法律问题棘手、每一种可行方案都有后果的会议。布兰奇先生会倾听，要求坦诚，质疑假设，并要求建议必须基于法律和事实。”
梅利莎·奎因为本报道贡献了内容。
Blanche set to face harsh questioning at Senate confirmation hearing for attorney general
2026-07-14T12:53:00-0400 / CBS News
Washington— Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will appear Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing to take over the role on a permanent basis, where he is set to face tough questions about hot-button issues he has been involved in during his time at the Justice Department.
Democrats are expected to grill him over what they believe are politicized prosecutions, the department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his prior advocacy for a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.
President Trump nominated Blanche, his former personal defense attorney, to lead the Justice Department last month following the ouster of Pam Bondi in early April. He has been acting in a temporary capacity since Bondi’s firing.
While Republicans hold the majority of seats on the Judiciary panel, the party’s margin narrowed with the unexpected death of Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina late Saturday. Graham was one of the most senior Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and a staunch defender of Blanche.
Most observers believe Blanche is likely to be narrowly confirmed by the GOP-led Senate. Still, he may face skeptical questions from some Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, namely Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
“Anti-weaponization” fund and IRS deal
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2026. Graeme Sloan / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Cornyn, Tillis and other Republicans criticized a settlement between the IRS and Mr. Trump that resolved a civil lawsuit over the leak of the president’s tax returns by a former government contractor.
That deal called for the creation of the new fund at the Justice Department to pay victims of so-called government “weaponization” and granted immunity to Mr. Trump, his two oldest sons, his company and related companies from future tax claims.
Amid bipartisan backlash, Blanche testified to a House committee last month that the department was scrapping the payout plan. His assertions, though, have done little to quell the fallout from the anti-weaponization program and broader settlement.
On Monday, a federal judge in Miami rebuked the Justice Department and sanctioned an attorney for Mr. Trump in the IRS case, finding the president pursued the lawsuit “for an improper purpose.”
The ruling raised questions about whether Blanche and Stanley Woodward, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department, violated ethical rules. It barred them from citing the provisions of the deal as evidence of a settlement in any formal court or government proceeding.
In a separate case, which challenges the legality of the Justice Department’s fund, the Trump administration last month declined to submit to a court a sworn declaration from Blanche and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that reiterated the claim that the fund is defunct, calling the demand “unnecessary.”
A hearing in the case is set to take place Wednesday in federal court in Virginia, while Blanche’s confirmation hearing is unfolding.
Blanche reiterated to reporters last month that “the answer remains the same, that the anti-weaponization fund is dead, it’s not coming back to life, it’s not on life support, it never was really started.”
A Justice Department spokesperson dismissed the Miami judge’s ruling, saying it was incorrect.
“There was no collusion in this case, and the partisan judge who speculated otherwise has disregarded decades of precedent,” the spokesperson said.
“This case was brought by President Trump in his personal capacity, as well as by several members of his family, who were all victims of admitted violations of law. There was a live dispute because the plaintiffs sought relief that the government had not provided. The plaintiffs did not receive any money and were barred from receiving any from the now-defunct Anti-Weaponization Fund.”
Blanche’s handling of Trump’s political priorities
Blanche served as deputy attorney general before Bondi’s departure. During his time in that role, he oversaw the controversial indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who are frequent targets of Mr. Trump’s ire. Both of the cases were dismissed after a federal judge determined the indictments were secured by an unlawfully appointed interim U.S. attorney. The Justice Department is appealing that decision.
Comey faces a separate legal battle after he was indicted in April for allegedly making threats against the president. He briefly shared an image on Instagram last year that showed seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers “86 47,” which Mr. Trump said on Truth Social is a “mob term for ‘kill him.’”
Legal experts and former federal prosecutors who spoke with CBS News in the wake of the indictment, however, were skeptical that the Justice Department can show Comey’s speech is not covered by the First Amendment. Comey deleted the image from his social media account soon after it was posted and said he did not realize some associate the numbers with violence.
He has denied any wrongdoing and is set to appear in court for an arraignment in September. On Tuesday, his lawyers indicated in court filings they intend to challenge the prosecution as being both selective and vindictive.
In the criminal case brought against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador last year and brought back to face human smuggling charges, a federal judge in Tennessee dismissed the indictment after concluding the prosecution was vindictive. The judge wrote that public comments from Blanche, as well as other factors, tainted the investigation into Abrego Garcia “with a vindictive motive.”
A Justice Department spokesperson dismissed the judge as an “activist,” saying the decision “was a wrong and dangerous attempt to place politics above public safety.”
Blanche also made numerous misstatements about the ongoing criminal prosecution against the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, including falsely claiming the case started during President Joe Biden’s tenure. The investigation, however, was opened during Mr. Trump’s first term, when Jeff Sessions was serving as attorney general. Blanche also incorrectly asserted that the nonprofit never shared intelligence about hate groups with law enforcement.
And his decision to personally interview Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice who is serving a 20-year prison sentence, sparked shock among former prosecutors who viewed his actions as improper and unethical.
Blanche met with Maxwell while an appeal of her criminal conviction on sex-trafficking charges was pending before the Supreme Court. Soon after the two met, Maxwell was transferred from a low-security federal correctional institute in Tallahassee, Florida, to a minimum security prison camp in Texas.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson previously said that Maxwell was transferred for security reasons and received no preferential treatment.
Blanche’s career
Blanche has had a somewhat unusual career trajectory compared with others who have reached the top ranks of the Justice Department. He started working at the department as a paralegal while he attended night school at Brooklyn Law to earn his degree. He then worked his way up the ladder in New York’s Southern District, one of the most high-profile U.S. attorney’s offices in the country.
Those who knew Blanche from his time as a federal prosecutor in New York had largely positive interactions, telling CBS News he never discussed politics in the office and was considered a solid prosecutor. They described him as a “bro” who people in the office enjoyed getting a beer with after work.
After many years in New York’s Southern District, he left to join the law firm WilmerHale. In a somewhat unusual move given his experience as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, he never worked as a partner. Blanche later shifted to the firm formerly known as Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, where he became an equity partner after about two years, according to a person with direct knowledge.
In 2023, Blanche left to lead Mr. Trump’s defense against 34 felony charges in New York related to a “hush money” payment made in the closing days of the 2016 election. Blanche often stood side-by-side with Mr. Trump in the hallways of a Manhattan courthouse as lead counsel during the 2024 trial, which ended in felony convictions on all counts.
When Mr. Trump returned to the White House, he nominated Blanche to serve as deputy attorney general. The Senate confirmed him by a vote of 52 to 46.
At that time, many DOJ employees reserved judgment, assuming his years as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York meant he respected long-standing Justice Department norms and would not cross a red line.
But several of those who adopted a wait-and-see approach told CBS News their hopes have been dashed.
“There is absolutely no wall between the Justice Department and the White House,” said Gene Rossi, a former federal prosecutor who is now in private practice. “Blanche literally does what Trump wants him to do.”
Some of those who know Blanche well said they observed a change after he began representing Mr. Trump in federal and state criminal cases.
Mimi Rocah, a former federal prosecutor who worked closely with Blanche in New York and once considered him a friend, said she believes he has fundamentally changed, and has allowed his views about the Justice Department’s prosecutions of Mr. Trump to cloud his judgment in his leadership roles at the department. Rocah successfully ran as a Democrat for district attorney of Westchester County, New York.
“I think his viewpoint became transformed by this experience of representing Trump,” she said. “I do think he genuinely believes that Trump was persecuted.”
“The problem is carrying it over into this position, and he seems to have rationalized that in his mind. And that to me is the really troubling part,” Rocah added.
The Justice Department has lost roughly 16,000 employees through firings, resignations and early retirements under the second Trump administration. As a result of the departures, Blanche is also facing hostility from current and former Justice Department employees who believe his leadership has been detrimental to the career workforce.
“Blanche has fired or overseen the firings of hundreds of these employees — usually without notice, and for improper, unlawful reasons,” wrote the advocacy group Justice Connection, in a letter signed by about 1,200 former Justice Department employees.
“Some were terminated for having worked on cases the President didn’t like; for being relatives of the President’s foes; for adjudicating immigration cases in accordance with due process; for declining to initiate vindictive prosecutions; or for refusing to lie in court,” they said. “These terminations violate the very civil service statutes designed to prevent corruption and political purges.”
Abhi Kambli, a former deputy associate attorney general who worked with Blanche at the department, said any ethical concerns about him are “overstated.”
“Todd Blanche is very careful and very ethical in my experience, and he’s very mindful,” he told CBS News.
Some inside the Justice Department initially saw him as a more moderating force against the White House’s worst impulses, several told CBS News.
Since then, between the new Comey prosecution, the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the proposal of the anti-weaponization fund, some said they think he has fully embraced the MAGA movement — likely in an effort to secure the attorney general nomination.
But Brian Nieves, Blanche’s former chief of staff, recently wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal praising his leadership, and urging the Senate to swiftly confirm him.
“I saw what leadership looked like when the cameras were off,” he wrote. “I sat in meetings where the facts were contested, the legal questions were difficult and every available course carried consequences. Mr. Blanche listened, pressed for candor, challenged assumptions and demanded that recommendations be rooted in law and fact.”
Melissa Quinn contributed to this report.
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