Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended his involvement in a $1.8 billion “weaponization” compensation fund at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday in his bid for the top Justice Department job.

Over the course of the hearing, Blanche sparred with Democrats and pushed back on concerns from some Republicans about his time serving as deputy attorney general over the last 15 months. 

Many of the questions focused on a May settlement between President Donald Trump and his own administration that created a $1.8 billion compensation fund and provided Trump and family members with immunity from tax audits for years prior to the settlement.

The questions came as two Republicans on the panel — Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — have withheld their support pending questions about the settlement and Blanche’s tenure at DOJ.

Blanche announced the fund in May as part of settling Trump’s $10 billion suit against the Internal Revenue Service tied to the release of his tax returns during his first term in office.

During the hearing, Cornyn pushed Blanche about the status of the settlement underlying the fund, noting that it had not been altered.

“There’s so much that is unusual about this,” Cornyn said.

Blanche responded that the settlement between Trump and the administration was still valid and enforceable, but could not force the department to move forward on the fund.

“There is no weaponization fund. The weaponization fund is dead,” Blanche said.

Outside the hearing room, Cornyn told CNN that he continued to have concerns after Blanche confirmed the fund could be revived.

Later in the hearing, Tillis pushed Blanche to work with him to create legislation intended to pass the Senate through unanimous consent that would bar the creation of the fund.

“My question is, who on earth, who in the Senate chamber would raise an objection if we were able to put something on the floor that ended this debate? The only reason I think that a Democrat would be opposed to it is they love milking this thing for what it is. I want to stick a fork in it,” Tillis said.

“Can I get your commitment to maybe provide us with some technical assistance on what that language would look like?” Tillis said.

“Absolutely,” Blanche said.

After the exchange Tillis said Blanche has “done a great job today.”

In a court ruling Monday, a Florida federal judge found that the lawsuit was not adversarial and was intended to provide “legitimacy” to the settlement. The judge referred Trump’s personal attorneys, as well as Blanche, for potential discipline.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., pushed Blanche to answer for the DOJ’s nondefense of Trump’s lawsuit over the release of Trump’s tax returns.

“When for the first time in history there’s an inquiry into fraud upon the court committed by the Department of Justice, the silence from the department in response to that is deafening, Mr. Blanche, deafening,” Whitehouse said.

Ranking member Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., said Blanche had been involved in numerous efforts to use the Justice Department for Trump’s political ends, from turning a blind eye on cryptocurrency investments to spearheading prosecutions of the president’s perceived political enemies.

“You’ve shown you’re still president Trump’s personal attorney,” Durbin said.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., argued that no president has tapped an enemy to lead the Justice Department.

“Are you his friend?” Kennedy said.

Blanche responded in the exchange with a quote that Democrats soon seized on online to argue that Blanche was committed to Trump’s priorities rather than the country’s.

“I’m his lawyer … was his lawyer,” Blanche said.

The hearing proceeded without the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who died suddenly over the weekend. Without Graham, the panel has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, allowing any one Republican to vote with Democrats and complicate Blanche’s confirmation.

The Senate could still proceed with confirmation without a positive committee vote, but it would require procedural votes on the floor. 

Blanche has served as the acting attorney general since April, when Trump ousted the first attorney general of his second term, Pam Bondi.

Blanche served as a paralegal and federal prosecutor within the Justice Department before going into private practice and eventually becoming one of Trump’s personal criminal defense attorneys. 

The Senate first confirmed Blanche to serve as the deputy attorney general, who is generally responsible for day-to-day operations of the DOJ, last March. At the time, no Republicans opposed his nomination.

The panel will hold a second-day hearing with outside witnesses Thursday before possibly sending his confirmation to the Senate floor next week.

Several Republicans also pressed Blanche to investigate former Special Counsel John L. “Jack” Smith, who supervised two criminal cases against Trump under the Biden administration, for potential perjury for statements about obtaining records of members of Congress.

Grassley released records showing Smith obtained messages of more than 40 members of Congress over the course of his investigations. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., one of the legislators whose records were obtained, argued that Smith had lied to Congress.

“Have you thought about investigating this guy for perjury?” Hawley said.

“We take testimony in front of this body very seriously. Yes,” Blanche said.

Most Republicans on the panel praised work by the Justice Department in the second Trump administration, particularly increases in violent crime arrests, seizures of illegal drugs and weapons and fraud prosecutions. 

That included panel Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, who praised the department’s cooperation with him in oversight of the Biden administration’s Justice Department as well.

“This department is keeping Americans safe and the numbers back that up,” Grassley said.