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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche accused Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., for lying during a line of questioning after the senator said the Jan. 6 protester pardoned by President Donald Trump discussed using future restitution money to ensure his child sex abuse victims remain silent.
Blanche appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday to answer questions about the Justice Department’s budget for fiscal year 2027. The hearing came a day after the Justice Department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund for people who claim to be victims of government “law enforcement.”
Van Hollen, the ranking member of the committee, accused the Anti-Arms Fund of being an “empty fund” for Trump supporters, expressing concern that the money would go to people who have been indicted and charged for their involvement in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots. Trump pardoned and granted commutations to more than 1,500 people who were charged and convicted of their role in the Capitol scandals, including Andrew Paul Johnson, who was sentenced to life in prison in March 2026 for sexually abusing two children.
APOLOGIES AND MONEY EXPECTED IN TRUMP’S BILLION-BUNDLE ‘INTRODUCTION’ PROFITS
Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche discuss Justice Department fund to help victims of “law enforcement money” (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images) (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images))
“That person actually tried to buy the peace of these children by saying that he would pay them some of the money he was hoping to get from your slush fund,” Van Hollen asked Blanche. “Can you commit to making rules so that person is not eligible for payment under this fund?”
““Yes, you’re obviously lying in your question, because there’s no way this person can commit to that,” Blanche said. “The slush bag, as you call it…were not there.”
Van Hollen pointed at Blanche and warned her.
“Don’t do that again. I’m reporting what he said,” Van Hollen said. “He said as he expected, he said he hoped to get some of the money from the payment.”
DAS MAY TRY TO CHARGE JAN. 6 MUMBAI’S CRIMINAL BY TRUMP FOR NEW CRIMES IN MUMBAI, LOCAL LEVELS
Trump supporters protest the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Jan. 6, 2021. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
Florida authorities reported that Johnson promised his victims that he would share the money he expected them to return after being pardoned by Trump. In a Discord message to one of his victims, Johnson shared that “he was being offered $10,000,000 for being a ‘jan 6’er'” and would put the victim at his “will” to take any remaining money,” according to a sworn statement Van Hollen read to Blanche later in the trial.
Blanche pointed out that the Anti-Weaponization Fund or “slush fund” did not exist when Johnson made those promises to the victims.
Ed Martin speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC, on May 13, 2025. (Craig Hudson/Washington Post)
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“This is the fund that the president and all of you have been writing to us over the phone to use to help the president’s friends,” said Van Hollen.
The Justice Department’s clemency lawyer, Ed Martin, is the only known Trump administration official to publicly request that those convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol received a refund for the “law” they were facing. However, Democratic Alliance leaders say the Department of Justice has taken steps to extradite the defendants on Jan. 6.
