Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was singled out by a Republican senator on Wednesday as someone who should not be put in “charge of a ham sandwich” during acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing.
Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney who has been leading the Justice Department on an interim basis, was expected to face fresh scrutiny during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing over politicizing the law enforcement arm against the president’s enemies and other controversies.
But Blanche also benefited from a friendly face, Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy from Louisiana, who sought to turn the focus of the hearing to instead attacking Lightfoot, a Democrat who had a stint as a federal prosecutor before her single mayoral term that ended in 2023. The two sought to paint her as soft on crime and incompetent, leading the former mayor — who is always eager to pounce on Republicans — to point the finger back at the two Trump allies.
“Consider the source: an unrepentant racist remarks on the tenure of a Black female former mayor of the third largest city in the country,” Lightfoot retorted in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “What do you think is going to come out of his mouth? A whole lot of ignorance.”
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Kennedy had brought up a letter Lightfoot signed with about 1,200 other DOJ alums opposing Blanche’s nomination — though he characterized it as a letter she herself sent to the committee — and asked Blanche if he had any “conflicts with her.”
“I do not believe she supports our administration’s efforts in making America safe again,” Blanche said.
Kennedy then asked if Lightfoot “thinks cops are a bigger problem than criminals” and that “if a cop shoots a criminal it’s automatically the cop’s fault, but if a criminal shoots a cop it’s automatically the gun’s fault.”
“Her public statements suggest that,” Blanche responded.
Kennedy followed up with, “OK. Would you put her even in charge of a ham sandwich?” He appeared to be referencing a famous quote from ex-chief judge of New York Sol Wachtler, who in 1985 said any prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich if they so wished.
“I don’t believe she should be any part of this administration,” Blanche said, before Kennedy said Chicagoans agreed and noted her share of the vote when she unsuccessfully ran for reelection in 2023.
Lightfoot, for her part, said it was Kennedy and Blanche who were eroding the criminal justice system by “the weaponizing of law enforcement forces against communities.”
“These comments underscore why Blanche is wholly unqualified to hold the title that he does, let alone to be confirmed as permanent U.S. Attorney General,” she wrote in her statement. “We can see his handiwork in the myriad problems marked by deaths, false arrest and unconstitutional actions all across the country under this regime.”
Lightfoot was knocked out of the running during the first round of voting that February after securing 16% of the vote, the first incumbent mayor to lose reelection in 40 years. Her tenure coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest following the police murder of George Floyd, though she staunchly opposed calls from the left to defund the police and attacked Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx’s progressive policies.
But she also made devout enemies in the Chicago police union, at one point getting caught on a hot microphone calling a Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 official “this FOP clown.” Chicago ultimately saw violence peak to levels not seen in three decades during 2021, following nationwide trends that began to reverse during her final year in office.
Since then Lightfoot has made media rounds opposing the Trump’s administration, particularly as it relates to her former employer, the DOJ, as well as last fall’s aggressive immigration campaigns in Chicago. She’s also taken up some notable local clients and causes, including in the ongoing legal dispute over control of Harold’s Chicken, a probe into ex-Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard and Bally’s Chicago’s opposition to the legalization of video gambling terminals in Chicago.
Blanche faced more significant pushback from another prominent Illinois politician Wednesday during his confirmation hearing.
Retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, used his opening statement to criticize the acting attorney general over a wide range of issues, from his handling of matters related to the Justice Department’s investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, to steps he took to ease off the cryptocurrency industry as deputy attorney general, to his signing of a settlement agreement granting Trump immunity from future IRS investigations.
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“In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice, you’ve shown that you’re still President Trump’s personal attorney,” Durbin said. “Your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said, ‘I love you, sir.’”
Durbin’s remark was a reference to Blanche’s response when asked at an April news conference what he would tell Trump if the president nominated someone else to be the next permanent attorney general.
Later Wednesday, Durbin took part in two news conferences where the Blanche bashing continued, first with fellow Judiciary Committee Democrats and then with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and several Epstein victims.
Durbin criticized Blanche for refusing to meet with the victims and for “resisting us every step of the way” in releasing Justice Department files related to Epstein.
“This man is loyal to Donald Trump,” Durbin said at the earlier news conference. “At a time when we are witnessing the most corrupt presidency in the history of the United States, we need an attorney general who will stand up for what is right, stand up for honesty. And what do we have here? A fixer.”
Despite Durbin’s key committee post, it’s two outgoing members of the Senate’s GOP majority who may ultimately determine Blanche’s fate: Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas. Both are members of the Judiciary Committee, and a no vote from either could block Blanche’s nomination from advancing to the full Senate.
The Tribune’s Jason Meisner contributed reporting.