Ashcroft Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee on Blanche Nomination to Lead Justice Department

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 17 in support of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination to the permanent position. Sen. Adam Schiff asked Ashcroft whether he agreed that the president has both the right and the duty to use the Justice Department to go after his enemies.

Ashcroft replied that the Attorney General has the right and responsibility to enforce the law uniformly, and if the law has been broken by the president’s enemies, he has a duty. He added that individuals do not become exempt from following the law merely by their enmity to the President of the United States.

Ashcroft continued that whether a person has been a political supporter of the president is not the determining factor regarding prosecution.

He stated that the President of the United States is the executive branch charged with enforcing the laws of the United States. Sen. Peter Welch questioned Ashcroft about the now-defunct Anti-Weaponization Fund, which had been intended to provide restitution to victims of the Biden administration’s alleged weaponization of the Justice Department.

Welch described a hypothetical scenario involving a $9 million payment, a $10 billion lawsuit against the federal government, and a $1.7 billion settlement fund. Ashcroft responded that he did not have that situation and did not have a president who had been the subject of illegal disclosure of his activities.