Senate Must Reject Todd Blanche as Attorney General

President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Todd Blanche, has faced sharp criticism over allegations that he misled Congress, pursued politically driven prosecutions, and compromised Justice Department independence—making the Senate vote a test of whether

When Todd Blanche walked up the path of power inside the Justice Department—first as deputy attorney general, then as acting attorney general—he brought a familiar posture: defending President Trump’s interests even when the nation was asking for something else.

This week, President Trump nominated Blanche to be attorney general. The choice may fit the president’s politics. But it also puts the Senate on the spot. The central question is not whether Trump can pick an attorney general who shares his policy preferences. It’s whether the Senate will confirm someone described as having a record of treating law enforcement as a partisan tool—damaging the department he would now lead.

Blanche’s résumé inside Trump’s orbit is extensive. He served as Trump’s personal lawyer in 2023 and 2024. defending him against two federal indictments and a New York hush money case. After Pam Bondi was fired in April. Blanche became acting attorney general. and before that he served as deputy attorney general.

If Blanche is confirmed, his supporters will argue that he has earned the job through loyalty and competence. His critics say those traits came at the expense of the Justice Department’s core promise: to act independently.

Blanche is accused of pursuing indictments framed as political. The article points to cases involving James Comey, the former F.B.I. director. and describes Blanche as having helped design a proposed $1.8 billion fund intended to benefit the rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, along with other Trump loyalists. The criticism also includes the claim that he spread falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election.

His record is also tied to a financial arrangement that critics say could insulate Trump and Trump-owned businesses from oversight. The piece says Blanche personally signed an agreement that provides the Trump family and its businesses immunity from tax audits—an arrangement critics argue could save Trump $100 million or more.

There is also the claim that Blanche pushed out dozens of F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors who were investigating the Jan. 6 riot and other potential crimes. And it says he violated his own promise to recuse himself from matters where he had a conflict of interest.

For Senate Republicans, the nomination is arriving at a moment that the article portrays as unusually revealing. It says several members have already shown a willingness to push back—demanding the cancellation of the $1.8 payout fund and forcing Trump to replace Bill Pulte. the acting director of national intelligence described as unqualified.

The nomination, the argument continues, becomes a character test for the Senate conference. In a “healthier political climate,” the article says, more Republican senators would quickly reject Blanche. In today’s environment. the list of those willing to say no is smaller—but still. it says. large enough to defeat the nomination.

The piece names several senators it argues have both the leverage and the political courage to block the confirmation: Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. and John Cornyn of Texas. It adds that Mitch McConnell. who is also described as leaving Washington. and Rand Paul of Kentucky are part of the group. It also points to Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. noting Collins is campaigning for re-election this summer by insisting she can stand up to Trump.

The article zeroes in on Tillis, in part because of the procedural power he could wield. It says Tillis sits on the Judiciary Committee. where a single Republican opponent could prevent the nomination from reaching the Senate floor. It also points to the fact that this spring. Tillis helped force the end of a “phony Justice Department investigation” of Jerome Powell. the former Federal Reserve chair.

But it argues Tillis has not shown the same level of courage with Blanche.

The case against the nominee is laid out as multiple alleged disqualifications.

First, it says Blanche celebrated the Jan. 6 rioters who violently attacked police officers and the Capitol. The article describes Blanche speaking to a conservative group in Texas in March. boasting about the outcomes for people convicted for their role in the Jan. 6 attack. It quotes him saying: “If you look at what happened to the men and women convicted because of Jan. 6, by 5 p.m. on Jan. 20. every one of them was either pardoned or had their sentence commuted. OK?” and adding: “So when folks say you’ve done nothing. I say you have a very short memory. ” to applause.

Second. the article says Tillis should pay particular attention to that speech because Tillis had previously said the key test for Blanche was whether he ever described the rioters as righteous after beating police officers. The article attributes that standard to Tillis’s position: if Blanche came “even close to saying that. ” Tillis says he would vote against him.

Third, it says Blanche misled Congress under oath. In Blanche’s nomination hearing last year to become deputy attorney general. the article describes Tillis asking whether Blanche would promise that none of the department’s investigations would be politically motivated. It includes the question Tillis asked: “I’ve got your commitment there will not even be a whiff of an investigation that appears to have a political motivation to it?” The article then says Blanche answered: “I commit to that.”.

The piece argues Blanche then broke that vow repeatedly when the president asked the Justice Department to pursue political enemies. It cites the article’s “latest example” as a frivolous case against Comey.

Here, the article offers details about the charge. It says Comey was indicted on a charge of threatening the president’s life because he posted an Instagram photo featuring seashells in the shape of “86 47.” It explains that “86” is slang meaning “nix. ” and that “47” refers to Trump as the 47th president. The article also includes that. in another unrelated case barring an attempt by the government to remove a flag that said “86 47. ” a federal judge wrote this month that “no reasonable observer could have viewed plaintiff’s display of the flag as a threat to the president’s life or physical safety.” It adds that the indictment against Comey is described as the second indictment of him by the administration. with the first arriving in an unrelated case that a judge had already thrown out.

Fourth, the article says Blanche pursued sham investigations against John Brennan, the former C.I.A. director who looked into Russian interference in the 2016 Trump campaign, and against Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump aide who implicated the president in the Jan. 6 violence.

Fifth, it says Blanche violated Justice Department ethics standards. The article says shortly after he became deputy attorney general last year. the department’s top ethics official told him he had to recuse himself from personal matters involving the president. It says Blanche agreed to the request. as described by a former ethics official. and signed a pledge to recuse himself for at least a year from all cases involving his former clients. including Trump.

Sixth, the article raises financial questions. It says Blanche owned $150. 000 to $485. 000 of crypto investments when he ordered an end to the investigations into the crypto industry that the Biden administration had begun. as reported by ProPublica last year. It adds that he also shut down a Justice Department enforcement team looking for fraud in the industry. and notes that Trump owns vast amounts of crypto investments.

Finally, the article says Blanche debased the Justice Department’s independence, referencing the department’s post-Watergate commitment. It says Blanche turned the department into an instrument of Trump’s will and. in response to investigative demands. said: “That is his right. ” and “and indeed it is his duty to do that.”.

This is paired with a picture of institutional damage. The article says the department has lost 21 percent of its lawyers since early 2025, citing firings, buyouts and resignations. It adds that the most talented law-school graduates do not want to work there anymore. referencing an American Bar Association report. It also says that to fill prosecutor jobs. the department has waived the requirement that new hires have some experience practicing law.

A useful standard offered in the article comes from Cornyn. described as another Republican on the Judiciary Committee and now a lame duck. It says Cornyn. after losing a Texas primary to Trump’s preferred candidate. told people he wanted to be confident Blanche understood his role. The article quotes Cornyn saying: “I want to make sure he understands that. ” and adds Cornyn’s line that the attorney general is not the president’s private lawyer.

If Cornyn and other senators accept that distinction, the article’s conclusion is blunt: Blanche has already rejected it in how he has acted.

The Senate vote, then, becomes less about personality and more about guardrails—whether the country is willing to let the Justice Department become the president’s personal enforcement arm. Cornyn and his colleagues, the argument insists, need to say no.

Todd Blanche attorney general nomination U.S. Senate Justice Department Pam Bondi Jan. 6 rioters James Comey Cassidy Hutchinson John Brennan ethics violations political prosecutions