Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is demanding a federal investigation after reports emerged that a senior Justice Department official may have intervened to shut down a probe into potentially corrupt payments connected to a presidential commutation, and he's calling out the man nominated to be the next Attorney General in the process.
Gallego and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a formal letter this week to the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General, asking it to investigate the closure of a federal probe in New York that had been looking into suspicious circumstances surrounding President Donald Trump's commutation of David Gentile's sentence.
Additionally, Gallego didn't hold back in his public response. "Todd Blanche wants to be confirmed as attorney general. Here's one more reason he shouldn't be," he wrote, adding that reports suggest Blanche's office killed the investigation. "I'm calling on the DOJ Inspector General to investigate."
With a backstory that Gentile had been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for his role in a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of everyday investors.
President Donald Trump commuted his sentence on November 26, after Gentile had served just twelve days.
Gallego's Argument
According to the letter, Gentile reportedly told fellow inmates during those twelve days that he had made payments of $2.5 million or more to secure the commutation.
One reported recipient, Reverend Frank Mann, appears to have used his access to President Trump to lobby for Gentile's clemency.
Furthermore, federal prosecutors in New York's Eastern District opened an investigation into those alleged payments. That investigation was reportedly shut down after a senior DOJ official raised concerns about it with the U.S. Attorney overseeing the case, a sequence of events Gallego and Blumenthal argue warrants independent scrutiny.
The commutation also meant that Gentile's victims were deprived of more than $15.5 million in restitution owed to them.
Despite multiple letters and direct questioning during Blanche's July 15 confirmation hearing, the senators say they have received no meaningful response.
The Inspector General's office has yet to publicly comment on the request.
