Top Dem Blames Todd Blanche For Dems’ Attacks On SCOTUS

The confirmation hearing for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is underway, just a day after Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett gave harrowing testimony about ongoing left-wing threats to her family and personal safety and requested increased protection. Yet Sen. Dick Durbin took the opportunity in his opening remarks for Wednesday’s hearing to place the blame for those threats on Blanche, Trump’s nominee for attorney general.

Durbin claimed that because Blanche said “the Justice Department was quote, ‘at war with the federal judiciary’” — referring to the rogue Democrat-appointed judges who have consistently sought to usurp the authority of the executive branch — he is somehow complicit in the increased threats against the SCOTUS Justices.

“Be careful with what we say about the judiciary. They are doing their job. We should never ever countenance violence against anyone on either side,” Durbin said.

Durbin implying that Blanche is behind threats against SCOTUS is ironic, given his own statements made about the 2022 Dobbs decision.

On the third anniversary of Dobbs overturning Roe v. Wade, Durbin said: “I want to make one thing crystal clear: this fight is far from over. I, along with my Democratic colleagues, will continue to fight against harmful partisan policies, unfounded in science or the Constitution, that put women’s health and autonomy at risk.”

He reaffirmed this sentiment not less than three weeks ago on June 24, the fourth anniversary of Dobbs: “The fight is not over. I, along with my Democratic colleagues, will continue to push back against harmful partisan policies that put women’s health and autonomy at risk.”

The threats to the SCOTUS justices have increased dramatically ever since the Dobbs decision was made. Nicholas Roske, a trans-identifying substitute teacher, attempted to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and had plans to kill other pro-life justices in 2022. Throughout her time on the high court, Justice Barrett and her family have received repeated doxxing and swatting threats, which have not slowed.

“They’re designed to intimidate or designed maybe to punish after decisions that the person sending the threat didn’t like, as a warning not to do it in the future,” Barrett testified yesterday before the House hearing. “It’s hard to interpret, particularly those anonymous deliveries that are sent in the name of Judge Salas’s murdered son, as anything other than an attempt to intimidate and influence decisions.”

There was a 57 percent rise in “security incidents of significant concern” toward the SCOTUS justices in fiscal year 2025, according to the Marshals Service. And the Supreme Court Police “is anticipating” a 38% increase in threats for 2026,” according to CBS News.

Durbin’s attack on Blanche ignored the fact that the violence toward the justices is overwhelmingly caused by those in the Democrat Party who do not agree with the justices’ decisions. He also blatantly distorted Blanche’s comments about the “federal judiciary,” which were made regarding rogue judges in the lower federal courts, not SCOTUS justices.

In fact, it was a lower court judge who gave Kavanaugh’s would-be assassin an incredibly light sentence. Roske faced up to a lifetime in prison after pleading guilty to the murder attempt. Prosecutors sought a minimum of 30 years, but he was sentenced to serve only eight years in federal prison by Democrat-appointed Judge Deborah Boardman.

Durbin tried to detract from these realities by focusing on Blanche’s personal connection with President Trump.

“This nation deserves an attorney general who loves the Constitution more than any single president. An attorney general focused on keeping America safe and combating corruption, not satisfying the president’s personal grievances or channeling crypto cash to the administration’s MAGA faithful,” Durbin said.

If Durbin wants his opinion to be taken seriously, he and his party need to take and apply his own advice: Focus on keeping America safe and upholding the Constitution. This cannot be accomplished through the continuous appointment of far-left judges across the country sympathizing with radical, Marxist, LGBT extremists who threaten to harm judges and justices who are trying to do their constitutional duty.

Libby Bandelin is a reporting and editing intern at The Federalist with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. A recent graduate from Dordt University, she earned her B.A. in communications with an emphasis in journalism and a minor in criminal justice. In college, she served as chief editor for her student newspaper, and her writing won third place in the 2026 Cordell Prize. She’s also attended journalism intensives with WORLD newsgroup and Alliance Defending Freedom.