Todd Blanche is facing pushback as Trump’s Attorney General nominee. [Getty]
On 8 June, US President Donald Trump officially nominated Todd Blanche, his personal attorney, for Attorney General. The decision has raised alarms among Democrats, some of whom are actively advocating against Trump’s pick, which requires Senate confirmation.
What is Blanche’s professional background?
Blanche is best known as Trump’s personal attorney. He represented him in the high-profile case in which he defended Trump against charges of “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who allegedly had a physical encounter with Trump in 2006, at which time he was married to his wife, Melania.
In another high-profile case, he defended Trump in the election obstruction case in which Trump allegedly tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Prior to these positions, Blanche worked as an associate in the Southern District of New York. He then went into private practice, leading to his representation of political figures.
He also represented former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort.
What is Blanche’s current position?
Blanche currently serves as Deputy Attorney General, acting Attorney General, and Librarian of Congress (the latter of which is the subject of a legal dispute).
Trump appointed Blanche as acting Attorney General in April following the departure of Pam Bondi, who left her post amid the massive release of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Following his appointment to this initially temporary position, he focused on targeting Trump’s political opponents, including former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
At a conservative event in March, he boasted that around 200 employees of the Justice Department who had been involved in Trump prosecutions had either left or been pushed out of their positions.
What are people saying?
Hours after Trump announced his nomination of Blanche, Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California called on Senators to “vigorously oppose” Trump’s push to make him the country’s chief law enforcement officer.
“At every turn, Todd Blanche has been unable to put aside his role as Donald Trump’s criminal defence lawyer and represent the American people instead,” Schiff said in a public statement.
“He has allowed the President to abuse the Department of Justice to go after his political enemies with absurd shell cases, engaged in the most blatant self-dealing by representing both Trump and his government in an IRS scam, and blessed a corrupt slush fund for cop beaters,” he continued.
“This is hardly the stuff of Attorney Generals. The Senate must vigorously oppose his confirmation,” he said.
Meanwhile, some Senate Republicans have made it clear that Blanche will not have an easy confirmation as Attorney General. At least three members of the committee responsible for vetting Justice Department nominees have publicly stated that they are undecided on how they will vote. They are Thom Tillis of North Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, both of whom are leaving the Senate at the end of their terms, and John Kennedy of Louisiana.
“Being attorney general is probably one of the hardest jobs in the Cabinet, because you’re working for the president, but you’re also supposed to be able to tell the president no,” CNN reported Cornyn as saying. “So, we need to talk about that.”
