During a confirmation hearing for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) made it clear that Democrats are none too happy with the Trump administration opening an investigation into the infamous left-wing billionaire George Soros. In fact, liberals are freaking out about it. What Hirono probably wasn’t expecting was for Blanche to put her and other Democrats like her back in their place.
“At an April 8th press conference, a reporter asked you a question about President Trump’s desire to see his perceived political enemies prosecuted. You answered, ‘that is his right, and indeed it is his duty to do that.’ To clarify, Mr. Blanche, do you believe it is the president’s right and duty to order the investigation or prosecution of his perceived enemies? Yes or no?” Hirono asked Blanche.
Blanche then told Hirono that he couldn’t give a “yes or no” answer to that question before explaining Article Two of the Constitution to her. “I can’t answer that. Yes or no. That wasn’t the question, and my answer was that as the president of the United States under Article Two, he’s in charge of the Department of Justice, and so my answer reflects that idea, not that he has a right to go after his political enemies,” Blanche responded.
“Reclaiming my time, I think that what the president meant was pretty clear, and I just wanted to know whether you thought that that is indeed his right and duty to prosecute his perceived enemies. So let me get to that. Investigations of the president’s perceived enemies aren’t theoretical; they are happening,” Hirono said, just before bringing up the investigation into George Soros.
“For example, last August, President Trump posted on social media that George Soros should be charged with RICO. Weeks later, one of your deputies directed several U.S. attorneys’ offices to investigate Soros’s charitable foundations for violating the RICO statute, Mr. Blanche. To confirm, were the U.S. attorney’s offices asked to launch these investigations because of the president’s post? Yes or no?” she pressed Blanche.
“I’m not even confirming that they were asked to, but most certainly not because of any. Well, the president definitely,” the acting attorney general responded. “The president definitely posted that he should be Mr. Soros should be charged with RICO, and lo and behold, several weeks later, that is exactly what your office sought to have done. Since last year, DOJ has sued 30 states, seeking their voter lists,” Hirono said during the hearing.
“Fourteen of those lawsuits have been resolved by federal judges. Mr. Blanche, did any of those 14 federal court judges from across the country agree with DOJ’s legal position? Again, yes or no?” the Hawaiian Democrat asked. “With some of the legal positions, yes. The answer to your question is yes. Some of the 14 judges agreed with some of our legal positions and most of those cases are under appeal,” Blanche answered.
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“The answer is actually no. These 14 federal judges, some of them were Trump appointees, disagreed with the DOJ’s position in terms of getting access to these voter rolls. It’s all part of DOJ’s attempt, and the president’s attempt, at election interference. We know that federal judges are a problem for you,” the senator continued her tough talk.
“Certainly, a problem for President Trump because they actually care about facts and evidence, and that’s why last fall at a Federalist Society event, you called for young lawyers at that event to join you in fighting a war, and you said, “We need you because it’s a war, and it’s something we will not win unless we keep on fighting,'” she pushed on. “The war that you were talking about was against federal judges who were ruling against the administration, correct?”
Blanche quickly answered, “No.” Hirono fired back with, “Well, then, do you believe that judges should be impeached based on their rulings against this administration and the president? Yes or no?” Blanche then said, “No, I don’t believe that.” Hirono continued to press the matter, saying, “On that, you disagree with the president because he believes judges should be impeached for disagreeing with him.”
“President Trump sees DOJ not only as a tool to attack his enemies, but also useful for helping his friends. To that end, on May 18th, you signed an attorney general order establishing funding and setting out requirements for the so-called anti-weaponization fund, correct?” she asked. “Yes, I know. I did sign that document.”
“Have you rescinded that order” She asked Blanche, to which he replied, “Yes, the order is no longer in effect. There is no weaponization fund. Correct.” She then said, “That is not my question. My question is: Did you rescind the order?” He answered that he was in the process of rescinding the order. “So actually, your answer is no. You have not rescinded that order, Mr. Blanch. One of your first acts as Deputy Attorney General was to issue a memo eviscerating DOJ’s enforcement work against crypto criminals, crypto crime surged in 2025,” she said.
Hirono then asked if Blanche knew that Americans reported a stunning 11 million reports concerning $11 billion in crypto fraud losses in 2025. “Crypto enforcement is way up compared to a year and a half ago. So I didn’t eviscerate anything. To the contrary, actually, we empowered AUSAs around the country to go after criminals in the right circumstances, and we continue to do it,” he concluded.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video