Liz Oyer, a former US pardon attorney, testified on Thursday that Todd Blanche, Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, fired her after she refused to recommend restoring firearms rights to actor Mel Gibson, a Trump ally with a domestic violence conviction. She urged the Senate judiciary committee to reject Blanche's nomination.
Oyer's Testimony
“I declined to rubber-stamp a political favor for a friend of the president, and it cost me my job,” Oyer said during the second day of Blanche's confirmation hearing. She stated that Blanche's claim her termination was unrelated to the Gibson case was “provably false” and contradicted by documents and evidence.
Blanche's Defense
On Wednesday, Blanche told the committee that Oyer's recommendation last year did not lead to her firing. “The decisions that she had made as pardon attorney in the weeks and months leading up to the end of President Biden’s term were completely inconsistent with President Trump’s authority,” he said.
Impact on Justice System
Oyer warned senators not to “degrade our justice system further” by promoting Blanche. “To the American public, it looks like Mr Blanche is running the DoJ as Donald Trump’s personal law firm,” she said. “He is using law enforcement powers to pursue petty grudges harbored by the president. These pointless vendettas are wasting our scarce resources and destroying [the] DoJ’s credibility.”
