At his July 15, 2026 Senate confirmation hearing to become U.S. Attorney General, Todd Blanche briefly called himself Trump's lawyer in the present tense, then corrected the phrasing to past tense.
It was a verbal slip, not a false statement, and he fixed it within the same breath. Blanche is a former personal criminal-defense attorney for Donald Trump who now serves as Deputy Attorney General. During questioning, he said "I'm his lawyer," then revised: "was his lawyer, and now I'm the deputy attorney general," according to PBS News.
Table of Contents
- What Blanche actually said, and what he meant
- Who Todd Blanche is
- The part of the correction that was also imprecise
- Why a small slip drew attention
- What this means for readers watching the process
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Blanche actually said, and what he meant
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked Blanche to describe his relationship with Trump. Blanche answered in the present tense, "I'm his lawyer," before correcting to the past tense, as PBS News reported.
The exchange took place during his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel that vets Justice Department nominees. The official hearing record is posted on the committee's site. Read plainly, the slip was a tense error. Blanche stopped representing Trump as a private client when he joined the Justice Department, so "was his lawyer" is the accurate description of that past role.
Who Todd Blanche is
Blanche was Trump's personal criminal-defense attorney before entering government. He represented Trump in the Washington, D.C. election-interference case and the New York hush-money trial, according to Britannica.
After Trump's second term began, Blanche moved to the Justice Department as Deputy Attorney General, the department's number-two official. That title is Senate-confirmed and distinct from the Attorney General role he was nominated to fill. Understanding this timeline matters because it explains the correction. A person can be a client's lawyer, leave that role, and then hold a government post that answers to a different set of duties.
The part of the correction that was also imprecise
Blanche corrected himself to say he is "now the deputy attorney general." That description was itself slightly off. By April 2026, he had become acting Attorney General after Pam Bondi was removed, while still holding his confirmed Deputy AG title, as reported in CNN's hearing coverage. So the moment contained two small imprecisions: a present-tense reference to a past client, and a correction that understated his current acting role.
Neither changed any substantive fact about his career or duties. For readers tracking the details, "acting" means temporarily performing the office's functions without Senate confirmation to that specific title. Blanche's hearing was the step toward confirmation to the permanent Attorney General job.
Why a small slip drew attention
The slip mattered because it touched the central objection to Blanche's nomination. Democrats argue that his prior role as Trump's personal lawyer creates a conflict of interest for the nation's top law-enforcement officer, as Mediaite noted. Blanche pushed back at the hearing.
He insisted he is not a "yes man" for Trump and rejected the conflict-of-interest framing, according to NBC News. Senators also pressed him on other subjects, including the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files, Trump's Jan. 6 pardons, and the defunct anti-weaponization fund, PBS News reported. The lawyer-role slip was a small moment inside a much longer, contentious session.
What this means for readers watching the process
A confirmation hearing is a step, not the finish line. As of the hearing, a committee vote and a full-Senate vote were still pending, according to the Washington Post. If you want to follow the outcome yourself rather than rely on summaries, a few practical steps help:.
- Check the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing page for the official record and any scheduled votes.
- Distinguish "acting" from "confirmed" when you read a title; they carry different authority and duration.
- Treat a verbal slip and a substantive misstatement as different things; here, the record shows a corrected tense error, not a false claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Blanche lie about his role?
No. He used the present tense for a past client, then corrected to past tense within the same answer. The record shows a verbal slip, not a false statement.
Is Blanche currently the Attorney General?
At the hearing he was acting Attorney General while still holding his Senate-confirmed Deputy AG title, per CNN. His confirmation to the permanent AG post was still pending.
Why does his past work for Trump matter?
Critics say representing Trump as a private client raises conflict-of-interest concerns for the country's top law-enforcement official. Blanche disputes that framing.