Former DOJ Pardons Attorney Says Senators' Hearing Prompted Death Threats

Overview

• Elizabeth Oyer, who served about 13 years as the Justice Department’s pardons attorney, testified against Todd Blanche at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and said she began getting death threats afterward.
• Following the July 16 hearing, Oyer posted a July 27 video that displays screenshots of abusive emails and messages that include explicit death threats and calls for violence against her and her family.
• Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt used their questioning time to challenge Oyer over her recommendation to reassess 40 federal death sentences rather than question Blanche about personnel actions, an approach Oyer says misled the public.
• Oyer claims Blanche fired her for refusing to restore Mel Gibson’s firearm rights, a charge the Trump administration has denied, leaving personnel motives disputed as the committee considers Blanche’s nomination.
• Coverage splits between outlets that frame the episode as part of a pattern of aggressive confirmation tactics by Republican allies of the president and outlets that focus on the factual record, and the nomination process remains active with no public inquiry reported into the threats.