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We've got some pretty big news here at NPR just about a year ago.
“>> Yeah, this time last year, Congress was getting ready to vote on the future of federal funding for public media.”
And they eliminated more than a billion dollars budgeted for NPR, PBS and stations across the country.
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So please give today at Donate.npr.org. >> And thank you. >> It wasn't Todd Blanche's qualifications that were front and center at his confirmation hearing to leave the justice department. >> The focus was his loyalty. >> Are you in President Trump for lunch?
>> I'm his lawyer. Was his lawyer. >> I'm Leila Faldzard with a Martinez and this is up first from NPR News. >> President Trump notified Congress that the U.S. is back at war with Iran. A majority of Americans oppose the war, but Trump's face is behind him.
Will anything make that change? >> And the President's pick for intelligence chief, wouldn't acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election. >> I'm not going to get into that with you. >> But you do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee. >> That's from Jay Clayton's confirmation hearing.
Why so much time spent on that question?
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>> The last time Antonio May's senior heard from his son. It was in a note, the 16 year old laughed in the family's garage. >> He told me you've no make me cry. >> Antonio Junior left home to join a protest in Seattle. A week later, he was shot and killed there.
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not by shareholders or special interests, but by people like you and me who believe in a free and independent press. >> One year ago this month, Congress eliminated federal funding for public media. >> Together, we continue the kind of journalism that we, the public rely on. Please support this work today at plus.npr.org. Hi, it's Terry Gross, host of fresh air.
Hey, take a break from the 24 hour news cycle with us and listen to long form interviews with your favorite authors, actors, filmmakers, comedians and musicians. The people making the art that nourishes us and speaks to our times. So listen to the fresh air podcast from NPR and WHY. >> The Senate Judiciary Committee grilled President Trump's nominee to lead the Justice Department on Wednesday.
But it wasn't Todd Blanch's qualifications for the job that were the focus. Instead, the panel honed in on his close ties to the president and whether he would serve Trump or the American people. >> NPR's Kerry Johnson has been following the hearing. Kerry, I mean, no shortage of controversy at the DOJ over the past year and a half. And Todd Blanch has really been at the center of it.
How did that come up in the hearing? >> Yeah, Todd Blanch has been the deputy attorney general. The second man command at the Justice Department since last year. He assumed a top job in April after President Trump fired attorney general Pam Bondi. Getting that promotion on a permanent basis requires Senate confirmation.
So lawmakers got a chance to ask Blanch about a lot of problems. He got questions about prosecutions against the president's political foes, about how DOJ
botched the release of files about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and about a nearly $2 billion.
Slush fund, the administration tried to set up to pay alleged victims of weaponization. That includes people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th. >> How did Todd Blanch respond? >> Well, Todd Blanch basically said he's a creature of the Justice Department. He's work there as an intern, a paralegal, and a prosecutor, and he told them serving
in the Justice Department represents an American dream. But, Todd Blanch has really been dogged by questions about his relationship with President Trump. Blanch, of course, worked as Trump's personal lawyer for a couple of years. He defended Trump in cases that involve election interference, classified documents, and Democrats say he's still serving Donald Trump instead of the Constitution.
Then under questioning, Blanch seemed to make a slip of the tongue. Here he is being questioned by Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana. Are you in President Trump for him? >> I'm his lawyer, was his lawyer, and now I'm the deputy attorney general. >> Blanch went on to say he's not a yes man, and that his time defending Trump should not
define his long career.
“>> So, Kerry Democrats, on the panel, are trying to make the case against Blanch?”
How do they try to do that? >> Some of these senators actually worked inside the Justice Department earlier in their careers, so these issues are personal to them in a way.
Sheldon White House from Rhode Island used to be a U.
White House talked about how DOJ has lost stature with judges and juries over the past year.
“>> Between judges appointed by every president, harshly criticizing the department's work”
in your tenure, grand joys, rejecting indictments, judicial findings, outright misconduct, this seems to be the most troubled department of justice in history. >> Todd Blanch says on his watch, DOJ has done a lot to prosecute violent crime and keep Americans safe. >> He's a wrinkle now, because after the death of Senator Lindsey Graham or the weekend,
the Judiciary Committee is very closely divided now, so how do hot Blanch's prospects look? >> That's true, there's one more day hearings today that are going to feature witnesses arguing for and against Blanch's nomination, but safe to say most of the Republicans on the panel seemed inclined to support him.
Senator John Cornean of Texas is going to be critical for now, Cornean says he's undecided.
Cornean is worried about DOJ trying to resurrect that slush fund for January 6w, which would use taxpayer dollars, and he's worried about the broad grain of immunity that DOJ
“gave Trump, and two of his sons for any past tax audits.”
This week, a judge in Florida blasted the Justice Department's approach there, the judge wrote DOJ officials, "Abdicated responsibility to zealously defend the interest of the U.S. and a sham deal that benefited Trump." >> That's NPR's Kerry Johnson, Kerry, thank you. >> Thank you.
[MUSIC] >> President Trump sent Congress a formal notification of this week that the U.S. is once again at war with Iran. >> The administration argues this gives them a new 60-day clock to use military action without congressional approval, but the greater concern for the president and his inner circle
may not be approval from Congress, but from voters, particularly as the midterms get closer and closer. >> NPR White House correspondent, Franco Ordonia's joins us now, Franco, so restarting a full-scale fighting, there's gotta be some political implications here.
“>> I mean, I think it kind of depends on what actually happens next.”
I mean, the president would rather not be dealing with all this. I mean, he's made that clear as he's aggressively pushed for the ceasefire. Now, I will say, if these new strikes actually kind of break the regime, if the straight of war moves actually opens and gas prices drop down, then actually maybe the political implications could be kind of good for the president, but if fighting continues next week
and beyond that and energy prices continue to rise, then obviously that would not be good for the president or for Republicans for that matter. And just one other factor is whether voters actually feel the U.S. won or lost the war or as winning or losing, I mean, it's certainly not going to sit well with Americans. If they feel the president started this war and then the U.S. laws, so the success of this
latest offensive could also be very important from that political perspective as well. >> Yeah. >> And the thing on that is that Ordon policy really rarely dominates midterm election. I mean, could this year be an exception? >> I mean, I'd say yes, I mean, yes, and that this is a big foreign policy challenge, but
no, or really only because it's helping drive such major domestic challenges. I mean, voters are not necessarily going to point to the war for how they voted. I was talking with John McHenry, a veteran pollster with North Star opinion research. He says exit polls will not show the war, but the more likely show voters citing higher energy prices in the economy, which are driven by the war.
>> Ultimately, the gas prices may be the determining factor on how this plays out politically,
because gas prices have a ripple effect on everything. Prices, you know, an every retail shop at the grocery store will go up because, you know, a gallon of milk doesn't walk to the grocery store, it gets driven there by a truck. So the gas prices sort of the crux of the whole matter. >> Now that could change, of course, if this continues to grow, and if, for example, Trump
commits ground troops to the conflict, now he's been reluctant to do that, but he has threatened the possibility. >> So, for example, there's this war doing now. >> Erratic strikes and then just continued anxiety about the world of time. >> I mean, I'll say that Americans, though, have been expecting that.
I mean, there was a new Reuters poll that came out that said four out of five Americans expect the war to drag on and definitely. I mean, less than 20% a expect the war to end in a matter of weeks. Thing is though, President Trump has said for months that the war is almost over, obviously not because Iran continues to stop traffic going through the straight.
So, what has this done to Trump's overall support? >> Well, I'd say a majority of Americans oppose the war, but I'll just add that if you focus on Republicans, they largely had continued to remain behind Trump. I mean, it's not necessarily that they're ignoring the evidence that you outlined,
They trust Trump's framing.
And McKennery, the Republican pollster tells me he doesn't expect that to change no matter
the reporting, no matter the facts on the ground, that Trump's core supporters trust how the President interprets those facts to them. And he says that they're likely to trust a President until they can't any more.
“>> That's White House correspondent, Franco or Don, you think's a lot?”
Thank you, A. [MUSIC] >> A major line of questioning for President Trump's pick to lead the intelligence community in 2026 was the election results from 2020. Jake Clayton is the nominee for Director of National Intelligence.
He faced senators on Wednesday in a confirmation hearing. The questions centered on Trump's repeated false claims that there was election fraud in 2020.
>> For more, we're joined by NPR's Greg Myri, Good Morning Greg.
>> Hi, Leyla. >> Okay, so we've heard President Trump assert repeatedly and without evidence that the 2020 election was rigged. So, when Clayton was asked about this, what did he say? >> Yeah, the Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee repeatedly asked Clayton straight
up, who won the 2020 election? Clayton said he wasn't an election denier and that Joe Biden was certified as President, but he didn't say outright that Biden won. And so after several go-rounds with senators along these lines, the tone escalated as Georgia Democrat John Ossoff kept pressing Clayton.
>> Who won the 2020 election? >> Like I said, I'm not going to get into that with you. >> But you do have an obligation to be honest and forthright with the committee.
“Is anything that I just said not honest or forthright?”
>> Yes, you're not being honest or forthright. Who won the 2020 election election election? >> So, I know the President is expected to again talk about this election in his speech tonight. An election he lost, but refuses to acknowledge he lost. But it's, it's 2026.
So why the focus on this in the panel could the director of national intelligence end up being part of any investigation into the 2020 election? >> Yeah, the short answer is yes. Now Clayton was asked about Trump's speech that he's going to deliver to tonight. And Clayton said he didn't know anything about it because he hasn't been confirmed yet.
But the director oversees the collective effort of the intelligence community all 18 agencies. Those with a domestic focus, like the FBI, those with a foreign focus, like the CIA. So yes, this office could be involved. And Leila, an important reminder of the 2020 election has been investigated repeatedly. No evidence has emerged of any serious irregularities in the casting or counting of votes.
And this includes a 2021 report by this very office, the office of the director of National Intelligence. It said Russia and Iran tried to influence American voters, but did not penetrate the actual voting process and that China also considered an influence operation, but ultimately decided against it.
“>> What should we know about Jay Clayton's background?”
>> Yeah, he's a lawyer. He's held a couple of high-powered government jobs. He's currently the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. And this handles high-profile legal cases in the Justice Department. And he previously led the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee,
said he's worked with Clayton in earlier jobs and found him highly professional. But Warner stressed that the law stipulates this job must be filled by someone with extensive experience in the intelligence world. >> So is Clayton qualified for this job?
>> Well, he's never held a job in the intelligence community.
Now, he says he's worked extensively with the intelligence agencies. For example, his current office is in charge of prosecuting the former leader of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro, so Clayton works with the FBI and others. Now, a couple quick notes, Republicans control the intelligence committee and can send Clayton's nomination to the full Senate without any Democratic support into committee vote is expected next week.
And a reminder, this position opened up after the recent resignation of Tulsi Gabbard, who often seemed to be just out of step with President Trump. >> And PR's Greg Mayri, thank you, Greg. >> Sure thing, Layla. >> And that's a first-for-thursday July 16th of May, Martinez.
>> And I'm Layla Faldil. Today's episode of Up first was edited by Ana Yucananov, Kelsey Snell, Andrew Sussman, Alice Wolfley, and Pamadan Rdc. It was produced by Ziyad Buch and Niyodumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hynes and our technical director is Carly Strange,
and our deputy executive producer is Kelly Dickens. Join us again tomorrow. [ Music ]
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