If I had a lawyer who got me convicted of thirty-four felonies, I would probably want my money back. I certainly would not try to make him the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States. Such is the case of Acting Attorney. General, Todd Blanche.
On June 18 of this year, Trump nominated Blanche to be Attorney General of the United States.[1] Blanche has been Deputy Attorney General since the beginning of the Trump administration. Since assuming that position, Blanche has presided over one debacle after another.
In February 2025 Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she was reviewing the files concerning child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein seized by the government at the time of his arrest, including what she termed his “client list.” In July of that year the Department of Justice and the FBI claimed that no ”client list” existed.[2] In the ensuing public uproar over this claim, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act mandating release of the files and was signed into law by Trump.[3] In testimony before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, Bondi claimed that Blanche was responsible for the much criticized, haphazard release of the files.[4]
Perhaps, because of Trump being informed that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files, Blanche took it upon himself to conduct a highly unusual interview with Ghislaine Maxwell.[5]
On July 24 and July 25, 2025, Blanche interviewed Maxwell at a federal prison in Florida in the presence of her attorney after providing her with testimonial immunity.[6] The interview which consumed over 300 pages of transcript, brought new meaning to the phrase “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” According to Maxwell, she saw no sexual misconduct on the part of Epstein or anyone else and did not engage in or facilitate sex trafficking herself. Blanche questioned her about various men, most notably President Bill Clinton, while scrupulously avoiding any inquiry about Donald Trump. Clearly the grant of testimonial immunity was unnecessary. At the conclusion of the interview, Blanche told Maxwell that he would be in contact with her attorney about ”the next step.” The next step apparently occurred several days later when Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison farm in Texas which does not house sex offenders.[7] One can only wait until the next shoe, in the form of clemency or a pardon, drops.
Blanche has not been shy about doing Trump’s bidding in bringing dubious criminal indictments against Trump’s critics and firing prosecutors who refuse to do the same. Eric Siebert the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was fired after refusing to bring indictments against former FBI director James Comey and New York State Attorney General, Letitia James. When Siebert was replaced by a White House aide with no criminal law experience and indictments were obtained, both were dismissed by Judge Cameron McGowan Currie because the prosecutor had not been lawfully appointed.[8] Comey was indicted again this year in North Carolina after posting a picture of seashells that he encountered which spelled out “ 86 47.” The United States Attorney in that district Has withdrawn from the case without providing a reason.[9]
Blanche appears to have cornered the market when it comes to selecting unqualified United States attorneys. In addition to the US Attorney in the previously discussed Comey case, judges in various districts have refused to support Blanche’s appointees that they determined were unqualified. When those judges exercised their prerogative to select replacements, Blanche quickly fired them.[10] On Blanche’s watch more than 3300 lawyers have left the Justice Department.[11]
Blanche’s most egregious proposal and an example of his total fealty to Trump came in the form of the “$1,776 billion Dollar Anti-Weaponization Fund.” This fiscal monstrosity was proposed to settle Trump’s meritless lawsuit against the IRS. The utterly ludicrous nature of this lawsuit was best described by Trump himself when he observed,” I’m the one that makes the decision and that decision would have to go across my desk and it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself”[12] In the uproar that followed this self-dealing, it was further revealed that another agreement was reached in which Trump , his sons and the Trump Organization would obtain immunity from ongoing and future tax audits.[13] On July 13 2026, both the Anti-Weaponization Fund and the Tax Agreement were voided by Judge Kathleen Williams, who was presiding over the litigation in the District Court in Florida. Additionally, she imposed sanctions in the form of attorney fees for the federal judges that intervened to challenge the settlement and directed a copy of her extremely critical order to be filed in the ongoing disciplinary proceedings involving Todd Blanche.[14]
in 1970 President Richard Nixon nominated G. Harold Carswell, Judge on the fifth Circuit US Court of Appeals for a seat on the United States Supreme Court . When Carswell was criticized as being a mediocre choice, Republican Senator Roman Hruska of Nebraska said, “Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers, and they are entitled to a little representation aren’t they ?” [15]
Todd Blanche doesn’t even pass Senator Hruska’s test.
[1] “Trump Nominates Blanche to be Attorney General,” by Jeremy Roebuck, Washington Post, 8, 2026
[2] “US Justice Department Finds No Epstein Client List” by Bernard Debusmann Jr. BBC News, July 8, 2025.
[3] Trump signs build to release the DOJ’s Epstein files,” by Megan Leibowitz, NBC News November 19, 2005.
[4] Bondi punts Blame for the Epstein fFiles to Todd Blanche,” by Hailey Fuchs, Politico, June 4, 2026.
[5] “Justice Department Told Trump in May that His Name is Among Many in the Epstein Files,” by Sadie Gurman, Annie Linskey, Josh Dawsey, and Alex Leary. Wall Street Journal July 23, 2025 ;” Ghislaine Maxwell Received Limited Immunity During Meetings with Deputy Attorney General: Sources,” by Aaron Ketersky, Katharine Faudters, Brandon Baur and John Haworth, ABC News, July 25, 2025.
[6] Maxwell interview, July 24 – 25, United States Department of Justice.
[7]“ Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Less Restrictive Prison after DOJ Meeting,” by Erica Orden, Politico August 1, 2025.
[8] “US Judge Throws Out Criminal Cases Against James Comey and Letitia James,” by Sam Levine, The Guardian November 24, 2025
[9] “James Comey ’86 47 ‘Case Prosecutor Suddenly Steps Down, Assistant US Attorney Steps In,” by Eric Mack, Fox News, June 1, 202S.
[10] New Jersey Federal judges sideline Alina Habba’s as Top Prosecutor, Trumps DOJ Ousts Her Replacement,” by Graham Kates, Daniel Klaidman, CBS News July 22, 2025; “US Attorney Chosen to Replace Trump Pick is Quickly Fired by White House,” by Jonah E Bromwich New York Times February 11, 2026
[11] “Politics and Power: How Thousands of Departures from the DOJ are Reshaping Justice,” by Bruce Hamilton,News4 JAX March 26, 2026.
[12] Trump Said to Demand Justice Department Pay Him $230 Million for Past Cases,” by Devlin Barrett and Tyler Pager New York Times, October 21, 2025
[13] “Trump Just Pardoned Himself and His Family Forever,” by Jeffrey Toobin, New York Times, May 20, 2026.
[14] “Judge Smacks Down Trump’s IRS Settlement and Orders Sanctions,” by Allison Durkee, Forbes, July 13, 2026; “Judge Denounces trump’s I.R.S. Suit as improper Exercise in Self-Dealing,” by Andrew Duehren and Alan Fuer, New York Times, July 13, 2026
[15] “Carswell Attacked and Defended as Senate Opens Debate on Nomination, by Warren Weaver Jr., New York Times, March 17, 1970