30 Organizations Call On Senate To Oppose Todd Blanche’s Nomination as Attorney General in Coalition Letter
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After President Trump announced he will nominate Todd Blanche as Attorney General, the Not Above the Law coalition today formally launched the Block Blanche campaign, calling on the Senate to reject Trump’s personal fixer as the next Attorney General. As part of that campaign, the coalition delivered a letter to senators calling on them to oppose Blanche’s confirmation.
No one in Justice Department history has moved directly from representing a president in criminal proceedings to leading the very institution that prosecuted those cases. Blanche served as Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney in three concurrent cases before being installed as the head of the DOJ, where he launched a multi-front assault on DOJ independence.
The co-chairs of the Not Above The Law Coalition – Lisa Gilbert, Public Citizen; Praveen Fernandes, Constitutional Accountability Center; Kelsey Herbert, MoveOn; and Brett Edkins, Stand Up America – made the following statement:
“Todd Blanche is not America’s Attorney General. He was Donald Trump’s criminal defense lawyer and personal fixer before working for the Justice Department, and he never stopped. The only thing that changed when Blanche walked into the DOJ is that now the American people are paying the bill while he weaponized the department against Trump’s perceived enemies and cut deals for his boss. Every senator took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and honoring that oath means using the Senate’s confirmation authority to protect the independence of federal law enforcement. We’re here to remind them of this duty to our nation.”
The campaign targets senators whose votes could determine whether Blanche is confirmed, calling on each to publicly commit to opposing his confirmation early, when pressure matters most.
The coalition letter signed by 30 advocacy organizations documents Blanche’s record at the Justice Department: weaponizing the DOJ to target Trump’s perceived enemies, moving to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of January 6th attackers, firing career prosecutors, ignoring ethics advice to recuse himself from Trump-related matters, seeking to grant tax immunity for Trump and his family, and creating a $1.8 billion slush fund for Trump allies without congressional approval.
“The Senate has a constitutional obligation to answer one question: does the Justice Department serve the American people, or does it serve Donald Trump?” the coalition writes.
As part of this campaign, nearly 2,000 attorneys from Lawyers for Good Government have signed a joint letter opposing Blanche’s nomination, citing his rejection of DOJ independence, conflicts of interest, and use of prosecutorial power to advance the president’s political interests.
The campaign will include an ongoing suite of tactics organized around the coalition’s central argument: Todd Blanche is not America’s Attorney General. He is Donald Trump’s personal fixer.
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.