Hi there, everyone. It's 4 o'clock in New York. So who was on Capitol Hill today?

Was it the acting attorney general, the United States of America? Or, as one Democratic

lawmaker put it today, was it Donald Trump's consigliary.

Todd Blanche came under withering questioning from Democrats over the wholesale replacement

of the Department of Justice's 150-plus year-old mission of upholding the rule of law in this country and around the world,

with instead doing the bidding of

an aspiring autocrat named Donald J. Trump, a key focus today, that $1.8 billion settlement funded

by our money, taxpayer dollars. Our taxpayer dollars will now be used to compensate people who claim to have been wrong by the

Justice Department, the so-called victims of weaponization.

Here's Senator Van Hollen on that.

This is an outrageous, unprecedented slush fund that you set up.

Simple question.

Will individuals who assaulted Capitol Hill police officers be eligible for this fund?

Well, as it makes plain, just let me know if they're eligible for the fund. As was made plain yesterday, anybody in this country is eligible to apply if they believe they were a victim

weaponization. Mr. Attorney, let me ask you this. Are there going to be rules that say that if you've

assaulted a Capitol Hill police officer or committed a violent crime, you will not be eligible?

Why not make that a rule? I expect that, well, because I'm not one of the commissioners setting up the rules. I expect that there will be rules set up.

Aren't you, Mr. Attorney General? Pardon me? You're appointing four of the five members. I am appointing all five members. There's also an individual who, after being pardoned by the president, went on to molest two children. And that person actually tried to buy the silence

of these children by saying that he would pay them some of the funds that he was hoping to get

from your slush fund. Can you commit to making the rule so that that person is not eligible for a payout under this fund?

Well, you're obviously lying in your question because there's no way that this person committed

to that. The slush fund, as you call it, which is not, didn't exist. But I can commit.

...