Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was skewered during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was skewered online after he said he "is" President Donald Trump's lawyer, before correcting himself to say he "was" Trump's lawyer.

Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) asked Blanche whether he and Trump are friends, to which Todd Blanche answered, "I'm his lawyer." He then quickly changes his answer to, "was his lawyer."

The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the United States on legal matters, which isn't a new role for Blanche, who served as Trump's personal lawyer from 2023 through the various court cases brought against him after he left office before becoming the interim AG after Pam Bondi was removed by Trump in March.

Blanche is facing bipartisan scrutiny as he seeks the chance to serve out the duration of Trump’s term. Trump’s former personal attorney has run the department on an interim basis since April, when Pam Bondi was fired after struggling to bring successful cases against Trump’s political foes.

Since taking the reins at the Justice Department, Blanche has accelerated investigations into Trump foes, functioned as the public face of a maligned fund meant to compensate the president’s allies and alarmed press freedom advocates with an aggressive pursuit of news media leaks.

Blanche was skewered by Senators for his role in several issues, including releasing January 6 rioters. Though Blanche said he didn’t endorse Trump’s move specifically, the U.S. Constitution gives presidents “the authority to pardon anybody for any federal crime.”

Just hours after returning to the White House last year, Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences or vowed to dismiss the cases of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the riot.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) took issue with the decision, saying that “someone should have grabbed him by the arm and said, ‘Stop, you can’t release all of those rioters.’”

Durbin also pressed Blanche over a deal to end Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax returns. The Justice Department has faced intense scrutiny over part of the settlement that granted the president immunity from tax audits.

Blanche said such an agreement is “typical” in settlements like that one. "Nobody is above the law,” Blanche told Durbin. “And when we enter the settlements like that … It doesn’t make any of those individuals above the law.”

Durbin noted that 10 victims of Epstein were in the room for Blanche’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “I appreciate them being here today,” Blanche said. “I have never said I wouldn’t meet with survivors.”

“I hope you would do it immediately, or we’re going to hold you to it,” Durbin said. Blanche said he would be willing to prosecute “anyone who did any harm to any of these victims. My heart breaks for every survivor,” he said.