Richard Durbin

“Mr. Blanche’s willingness to casually lie under oath about a statement he made in a room full of witnesses shows the lengths he will go to avoid offending President Trump,” Durbin said, telling members of the Judiciary Committee that Blanche has “no business” becoming Trump’s attorney general.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.

The comments were part of a 10-minute speech in which Durbin painted Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, as blindly loyal to the president and sought to undermine a deal two Republicans on the committee struck to ensure the fund won’t be moving forward.

Durbin joined all other Democrats to oppose Blanche’s nomination, but it advanced 12-10 in a party-line vote, easing his path to confirmation before the full Senate as soon as this week.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), one of the committee’s swing votes, defended his deal with Blanche at Tuesday’s meeting, arguing that he and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) “did the best we could given the circumstances.”

SENATE COMMITTEE ADVANCES TODD BLANCHE’S ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINATION

Both Republicans withheld their votes for Blanche’s nomination until the Justice Department put in writing that the fund, controversial due to its expected payouts to Jan. 6 defendants, was defunct. Blanche also reiterated to the senators that a May settlement giving Trump immunity from tax audits was limited in scope.

Democrats argue that Trump will revive the fund once Blanche is confirmed.

Kaelan Deese contributed to this report.