Given President Trump’s nomination of Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General and the approach of Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings in July, a coalition of 53 organizations released a letter urging senators to oppose the nomination of Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer.
No one in the Justice Department’s history has moved directly from representing a president in criminal proceedings to leading the very institution that prosecuted those cases. Yet Blanche, who served as Trump’s personal criminal attorney, now leads the DOJ and has launched a multi-front assault on the Department’s independence.
In their letter to senators, the 50+ organizations document Blanche’s conduct since taking over the Department: weaponizing federal power against Trump’s perceived enemies, moving to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of January 6th attackers, firing career prosecutors, ignoring formal ethics advice to recuse himself from Trump-related matters, and creating a nearly $1.8 billion slush fund for Trump allies without congressional approval.
“Blanche is still Trump’s lawyer, the only thing that changed when he walked into the Justice Department is that now the American people are paying for it,” the coalition writes. “And the American people are left without a lawyer of their own.”
The letter argues that Blanche has made clear he doesn’t consider himself bound by DOJ norms. At his first press conference as acting Attorney General, he declared: “I love working for President Trump. It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime.” The signatories contend that Blanche’s appointment represents an escalation beyond even his predecessor: “Former Attorney General Pam Bondi wasn’t removed because she crossed a line. She was removed because she didn’t cross enough of them.”
The letter arrives as part of the Block Blanche campaign launched by the Not Above the Law coalition, which is urging the Senate to reject Trump’s nomination of Blanche as Attorney General.
“Every member of this body took an oath to support and defend the Constitution,” the coalition writes. “Honoring that oath means using the Senate’s confirmation authority to protect the independence of federal law enforcement. The Senate has a constitutional obligation to answer one question: does the Justice Department serve the American people, or does it serve Donald Trump?”
Read the full letter here.
For questions about the Block Blanche campaign or to request an interview with a Not Above the Law coalition leader, please email press@focalpointstrategygroup.com.