The GOP Considers Trump’s “Personal Henchman” for Attorney General

The defense lawyer who represented Trump in United States v. Trump may soon run the Department of Justice.

Congress is now considering whether to confirm President Trump’s former defense attorney, Todd Blanche, as Attorney General of the United States.

Congressional Republicans have helped President Trump and his administration get away with so many acts of brazen corruption— including flagrant nepotism, self-dealing, and handouts to themselves and their biggest donors. But confirming the president’s former defense lawyer as Attorney General would be a new low point. This should shock everyone.

Americans can’t get numb to this level of corruption. That Republicans in Congress are even considering this nomination is a reminder that they and President Trump are working in tandem to dismantle what’s left of our democratic norms and establish a straight up authoritarian government.

It may be obvious, but let’s take a step back and remember that the Attorney General heads the Department of Justice (DOJ) and is considered the nation’s top law enforcement officer. The Attorney General directs prosecutions, supervises the FBI and other agencies, and gives legal advice not just to the president but the head of other government agencies.

Blanche has already served as Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General. During his tenure, he led prosecutions into Trump’s critics like New York Attorney General Leticia James and former FBI Director James Comey; spearheaded investigations into nonprofits like the Southern Poverty Law Center; supported a potential slush fund for people, including January 6th rioters, who claimed that the federal government had been “weaponized” against them; and oversaw the disastrous release of the Epstein files. The DOJ has also helped execute the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.

More than 1,200 former DOJ employees spanning 14 administrations signed a letter opposing Blanche’s nomination. “Since his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche has shown time and again that his guiding star is fealty to the President, not the Constitution,” wrote Stacey Young, executive director of Justice Connection, which provides direct support to current and recent DOJ employees facing attacks by the Trump Administration. The letter says that Blanche has “utterly failed to abide by” the “oath to support and defend the Constitution, not the occupant of the White House.” During Blanche’s confirmation hearings, Democratic senators pressed him on his personal connection to Trump.

Blanche served as President Trump’s personal attorney from 2023 to 2025. The conflict of interest here is so glaring that it doesn’t need any explanation. During the confirmation hearings, Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, including Senators Mazie Hirono (HI) and Cory Booker (NJ) brought up the concern that Blanche would be more loyal to President Trump than the country. When asked whether he’s personally aligned with Trump, Blanche responded, “I’m his lawyer – was his lawyer…” He then clarified that he now works for the government. Later, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called him “Trump’s personal henchman.”

Before serving as Trump’s personal lawyer, Blanche had served as an attorney for Paul Manafort and others whose names have made headlines for their high-profile corruption charges.

Here’s the other thing: It’s not as though as Trump’s personal attorney Blanche just drafted some personal documents related to one of his divorces or real estate purchases. He represented the current president in highly charged political cases wherein Trump’s personal interests were pitted against national interests. These cases include:

The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, the “hush money” case. In 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alan Bragg brought criminal charges against Trump, claiming that he’d falsified business records related to payments made to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump had allegedly made the payments to buy Daniels’ silence over their affair, to help him win the election. In May 2024, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Blanche was the lead trial attorney defending Trump in that case.

United States v. Donald J. Trump, the case about federal classified documents. In 2023, Special Counsel Jack Smith brought charges against Trump over classified federal documents found at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office. The documents were found during an investigation about the Jan. 6^th attacks on the U.S. Capitol. That case did not ultimately proceed to trial.

Blanche represented Trump as part of the defense team that had sought to get the charges dismissed.

United States v. Donald J. Trump, the case about election interference. This one is mind-blowing. In 2023, a Grand Jury indicted Trump on charges that he’d conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. “Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to stay in power. So for more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he’d actually won,” reads the indictment.

The defense team argued that the prosecution infringed on presidential immunity. In July 2024, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority accepted the defense team’s rationale and decided that President Trump has wide-ranging immunity from criminal liability for his official acts and absolute immunity for some “core” acts. The ACLU explained, “The court granted absolute immunity to President Trump’s use of the Justice Department for fraudulent purposes.”

Blanche represented Trump in United States v. Donald Trump.

Let’s just pause here and take in again: Congressional Republicans are seriously considering confirming as Attorney General of the United States a man who defended the sitting president against charges that he’d conspired to overturn the results of a federal election.

It may be possible, though still unlikely, that this will be a bridge too far even for this Republican Congress. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chair of the Judiciary Committee, has yet to schedule a vote. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), a lame duck, is holding out on confirming Blanche, reportedly because Blanche wouldn’t guarantee in writing that the plan to create a so-called “anti-weaponization fund”-- a taxpayer-funded $1.8 billion slush fund that would pay people who said they were victims of government “weaponization” – wouldn’t happen.

The fact that this is even on the table is beyond comprehension.

End Citizens United is running a petition to call Congress to reject Blanche’s nomination. You can sign it here.