Video: Cory Booker Has Extended Meltdown in Committee Hearing as Blanche Nomination Advances
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey went into his full “I am Spartacus” mode to argue against acting Attorney General Todd Blanche receiving Senate approval for his appointment to the position.
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12 to 10, along party lines, to advance Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination to the full Senate for confirmation.
Before the vote, Booker’s infamous histrionics were on display.
First, he took direct swipes at Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who threw their support behind Blanche after he issued a signed statement confirming the $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund is dead.
President Donald Trump wanted the anti-weaponization fund established to compensate those unfairly targeted by the Biden Department of Justice.
“This is ridiculous! We got nothing! No guarantees whatsoever that this slush fund still can’t go forward,” Booker said.
Sen. @CoryBooker (D-NJ) statement opposing Todd Blanche’s nomination: “He is about to become Trump’s sword against his adversaries and shield against any scrutiny.” pic.twitter.com/Hv1PaGCxVC
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 4, 2026
Blanche posted a statement on social media on Sunday saying the May order establishing the fund was “rescinded and shall have no force or effect,” and that no mechanism had been established to accept claims and none had been paid.
“This Order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund,” he added, and cited court cases in which the DOJ represented the same.
My team and I have met with committee members and Senators over the past several weeks and addressed any concerns or outstanding questions. We have enjoyed good faith discussions, and as a result issue the following order and update with regard to the May IRS settlement. The… pic.twitter.com/U6hs15kw2D
— Acting AG Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) August 3, 2026
All of this obviously did not amount to “nothing” in the eyes of Cornyn or Tillis, who are, of course, no fans of President Trump, but after meeting with Blanche were satisfied and flipped over to support the acting AG nomination.
Booker went on: “It’s not like we’re talking about a president who is a saint. No president of the United States has been caught in tax cheating more than this one.”
The lawmaker cited the 2018 New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting about Trump’s finances.
You know what else The New York Times has received a Pulitzer Prize for? Its coverage of the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.
Yet after 22 months of a special counsel investigation staffed primarily by Democrats — including Hillary Clinton supporters — the finding was that no Trump campaign Russia collusion occurred in the 2016 presidential election.
So the Pulitzer Prize standard in these matters related to Trump is not a sound one. If he were a tax cheat like Booker alleged, surely the Merrick Garland-led DOJ and its lackey, special counsel Jack Smith, would have charged him with it.
Booker then tried to tie Trump to Jeffrey Epstein and accused Blanche of covering for the president.
After the DOJ released thousands of documents related to the investigation of Epstein, there was nothing implicating Trump in his crimes. Again, if there were, the Garland Justice Department had full access to these documents for four years, and nothing came out.
“This man is not our lawyer. He’s not America’s lawyer,” Booker said of Blanche. “He is about to become Trump’s sword against his adversaries and shield against any scrutiny.”
Does Booker think Garland was “America’s lawyer” as he targeted the president in unprecedented election-year prosecutions and put his former aides like Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro on drummed-up charges? And what about the pre-dawn FBI home raids and imprisonment of pro-life Christians who dared pray at abortion facilities?
Does he think Eric “I’m the president’s wingman” Holder was some nonpartisan leader as “Fast and Furious” and the IRS targeting of conservative groups happened under his watch with no legal consequences?
Nonetheless, to the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, Booker said, “When it comes to our democracy, you’re worried about someone who is doing petty theft [under Biden] while there is the murder of our democratic traditions going on before our eyes. We are in dangerous waters, folks.”
And in one final rhetorical flurry, Booker pronounced that Blanche “is about Trump and not truth.”
“He is about corruption and not the Constitution. He is about being Donald Trump’s lawyer and not the people’s lawyer.”
Spare me the theatrics. Sen. Booker, you are not Spartacus.
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