Former DOJ Official Testifies That Todd Blanche Made ‘Provably False’ Statements Under Oath About Her Firing

A former Department of Justice official who was fired by Todd Blanche told the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday that the acting attorney general made “provably false” statements to them under oath about how and why he let her go.

Elizabeth Oyer testified before the committee on day two of Blanche’s confirmation hearings as he seeks to take over the attorney general position from Pam Bondi.

“I had great hope that Todd Blanche would be an effective leader and a responsible steward of the Department of Justice,” Oyer began. “But he quickly proved me wrong. Two days after Mr. Blanche was confirmed as deputy attorney general, he fired me for my position as the department’s career pardon attorney.”

Oyer explained that she had declined to “rubberstamp” a political favor for a “friend of the president,” who turned out to be the actor Mel Gibson — although Oyer didn’t use Gibson’s name during the hearing.

“Mr. Blanche’s office had asked me to recommend restoring the gun ownership rights of a convicted domestic abuser,” Oyer continued. “I raised concerns about public safety. But Mr. Blanche’s staff pressured me to go along anyway. I did not. Domestic violence is the leading type of homicide among women. When a domestic abuser is armed, his victim is five times more likely to be killed. But because this particular domestic abuser had a personal relationship with the president, Mr. Blanche’s staff asked me to set aside my concerns. When I wouldn’t, Mr. Blanche fired me within hours.”

Oyer continued:

He then took extraordinary measures to silence me. He sent U.S. Marshals to my home in an effort to prevent me from speaking to members of Congress. I was shocked to hear Mr. Blanche’s testimony about this yesterday. What he said about my firing is provably false. His claim that it had nothing to do with the concerns I raised is contradicted by documents in evidence. His claim that he tried to call me before sending marshals to my home is flat-out false. His claim that it is normal for DOJ to use armed law enforcement officers to deliver mail to the homes of its former employees is preposterous. The casual lies that Mr. Blanche tells even while sitting in this chair testifying to this committee are emblematic of a much larger problem.

“Courts across the country have said they can no longer trust the Justice Department to uphold the law and tell the truth,” Oyer added. “Americans across the political spectrum rely on doj to keep us safe and free. Mr. Blanche has shown he is willing to put all of that at risk to serve a political agenda. I beg the members of this committee to think about what this is costing our country.

“Please do not degrade our justice system further by promoting Mr. Blanche.”

Watch the clip above via CSPAN.

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