Adam Schiff Says Todd Blanche Told A "Pretty Direct Lie" In Explosive DOJ Hearing

[00:00:00]Uh, thank you, Senator Booker, for holding this hearing. Thank you all for testifying. Um, and Mr. Carbona couldn't agree more. It's a staggering uh, conflict of interest, self-deing.

[00:00:12]U, I I wrote down the three words that Blanch used to describe that IRS sham of a settlement. I think he said regular um typical uh and I can't remember the third but they were anything but accurate descriptors of that unique agreement which as the judge in Florida pointed out has relief for people who are not even parties to the litigation tore to the degree there was any litigation um with remedies that have nothing to do with the alleged defense and uh and uses such broad terms as to be really totally in the eye of the beholder. And I think Senator Cornin was right. It was also quite striking that Blanch attributed to himself the power to speak for people on both sides of that agreement um by saying that it was dead. How could he speak for the other side of that agreement? Well, because he was on both sides of the deal. But I I I want to start by asking um Mr. car question.

[00:01:20]I asked uh Mr. Blanch about his recusal, his supposed recusal. I asked him if he talked to Mr. Terrell. He acknowledged that he did. I asked him if he was advised by Mr. Terrell.

[00:01:32]Um did Mr. Terrell tell you that ethics laws and policies required that you not be involved in cases involving your prior representation of the president?

[00:01:41]His answer was yes.

[00:01:43]So in those matter th those three matters the hush money payment case January 6th case Mara Lago case you are to recuse yourself his answer was I'm recused correct um well by the way he said the cases are not ongoing senator but to extent there's any work around those cases yes I'm recused so then I brought up and I you must have watched the hearing uh so you said to CPAC a couple months ago the other things that are happening there was not a single man or woman at the department of justice who had anything to do with those prosecutions, meaning the prosecution of the president.

[00:02:18]Um, now you had something to do with those prosecutions, right?

[00:02:22]>> I was a spokesman for the office >> for the office of the special counsel.

[00:02:27]>> Correct.

[00:02:27]>> That was leading both of those investigations into Mara Lago, the classified documents and obstruction case as well as the January 6 case.

[00:02:35]>> Correct. So by um his definition well by by what he described to CPAC you were included among those not left standing as a result of those firings. So I asked him, "So you're saying that it's not a conflict of interest for you to be involved in the firing of prosecutors who prosecuted your client, your former client. There's no conflict there. Is that your?" And his answer was, "No, there is." They said, "There is a conflict of interest. I wasn't involved.

[00:03:05]That would be a conflict of interest."

[00:03:07]Um, but he fired you, right?

[00:03:12]>> He signed my termination notice. Yes, >> he signed your termination notice.

[00:03:19]So, he signed the termination of someone who worked on the prosecution of his former client and arguably his current client, Donald Trump.

[00:03:29]>> Correct.

[00:03:31]>> I mean, it seems to me that was a pretty direct lie he told to our committee. Uh, now maybe he would quarrel with describing he was a prosecutor. Um, but he wasn't quibbling over that when he was speaking to CPAC. He said, "No one involved in those cases is still remaining at the department."

[00:03:53]And when I asked him about taking credit for that, he said, "No, no, no. That was just a statement I made."

[00:03:58]But, uh, wouldn't it also be a conflict of interest if that supposed tax agreement um impacted Trump's potential liability for what had been mischaracterized as business payments, the hush money payments, according to the statement of facts in that indictment, were designed to um conceal their true nature.

[00:04:28]uh and in so doing mislead tax authorities, wouldn't the signing of that settlement also impact his client potentially in that kind of a case?

[00:04:39]>> I defer to the lawyers on the panel. Um I am not a lawyer. So, >> yeah.

[00:04:47]>> Um, Senator Schiff, I expect that the lack of transparency around Donald Trump's finances um would, if reversed, reveal a lot of conflicts of interest. And I think you're absolutely right that um the um firing of US attorneys or spokesman uh individuals who were involved in any way in those cases um was as you seem to be suggesting largely motivated by not wanting those individuals to be involved. Um, moving forward, uh, I think a Department of Justice headed by Todd Blanch would have conflicts of interest and problems on with regard to lawyers ethics shot through it at every level. Which is why my concern is that if recusal were done right in his case, he would be recusing from the vast majority of what the Department of Justice is currently doing.

[00:05:55]>> I completely agree. Mr. Carr, if I could just return to you for a moment. Um, he signed your termination. Are you aware of whether he signed any terminations involving any of the other members of Jack Smith's team?

[00:06:07]>> I don't know. Um, I did reach out to a few of them. Um, some of them were fired before he became a deputy attorney general, others were fired after. So, I don't know. Um, I will say >> I would be very interested if any of your colleagues share with you. I think we would all be interested to know whether um you're not the only one that he fired on the Mueller, excuse me, on the Smith team um or um in any of the the investigations that he is supposedly recused from.

[00:06:41]Um, Mr. Garbone, I asked Mr. Blanch a question at the end of the hearing. Um, it was kind of interesting because most of the fact-based questions I asked him, he dodged.

[00:06:54]The one more or less rhetorical question he really seemed determined to answer, which is, "What happened to you? What happened to the Todd Blanch of the Southern District of New York, who was a respected prosecutor?"

[00:07:06]U, you knew him, you worked with him.

[00:07:09]Um, I understand from others in your old office that he was held in white in in high regard. What do you think happened to him?

[00:07:18]>> Well, Senator, I I you were in the room when I gave my opening remarks, but um, as I said, I I worked closely with him.

[00:07:28]Um, I personally liked him. I respected him. Um, and I I valued our relationship.

[00:07:36]Um, he was a very affable prosecutor. He was fair, fair-minded.

[00:07:43]Um, he had a lot of good qualities. I I don't know what happened to him. I do know what I see and I can only judge his conduct. Um, I have not had any extensive contact with him um, in the past year, two years. Um, it's been it's been very fleeting and I I don't know what happened, but he certainly is uh not the person that that I once worked with.

[00:08:13]>> Yeah. You know, it's interesting. Um, and I mentioned this at the hearing.

[00:08:20]I I don't think people change that much.

[00:08:24]I suspect it's more that we don't really know who they are until they show themselves, until they are forced to make a difficult decision between their ambition and their principles. Um, so >> and we've seen this, he's not alone in this. We've seen this from so many people who work in this building uh or the administration who come to Congress or come to the administration as one person and seemingly transmogrified to something completely different and I I suspect that that character flaw was there all along. Uh they just never were forced to make the choices that reveal who they really are. Um the last question. Um Miss Diana, thank you so much for being here. Um, I was struck by the the uh completely anomalous behavior of Mr. Blanch going to interview one of the co-conspirators, the primary co-conspirator of Jeffrey E. Epstein, Maxwell. Um, the fact that he seemed to take no one who really knew the facts of the case, which no self-respecting prosecutor would do, that he didn't challenge any of her many misrepresentations, uh, and that magically she ended up in this prison camp afterwards, unsuited for a sex predator like her. Um, how how did victims feel watching that spectacle, um, that charade?

[00:09:52]Um, what was that like?

[00:09:55]very difficult for us as it would be very difficult for any victim of crime.

[00:10:00]Um, Gileian Maxwell has shown herself to perger herself in civil litigation and it really wasn't lost on us that Mr. Blanch spent nine hours, two days interviewing her, but for months and months and months we couldn't get in front of the Department of Justice. And when we did, we had about an hour with Mr. Blanch, which was nothing in comparison.

[00:10:33]Maxwell's move to a low security facility is unprecedented for anyone with a conviction that she holds. I mean, it's just unheard of. Um, we are further concerned because this administration has not ruled out a pardon. This woman was convicted of sex trafficking and she's been g given preferential treatment over and over and over again. And that just begs us to ask why.

[00:11:04]>> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Durban, for your indulgence in allowing me to go ahead.