Todd Blanche: Wrong Pick for the People’s Attorney

On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will start a two-day confirmation hearing for the president's nomination for US attorney general, Todd Blanche, the acting United States attorney general and Trump’s personal attorney. 

A little history

Founding Father and second President of the United States John Adams famously wrote that the rule of law at its most essential means a “government of laws and not of men.” 

The rule of law is the principle that laws are applied in a consistent and predictable manner. In the United States, the rule of law ensures that the U.S. constitutional regime’s bedrock principles of separation of powers, democratic accountability, due process, and equal protection under the law can be relied upon. All government officers of the United States pledge first and foremost to uphold the Constitution. 

Judges of course play an integral role in maintaining, and also dismantling, the rule of law. But judges are not the only ones responsible. Other positions such as attorney general also play a significant role. The attorney general is the legal conscience of the government. They defend our rights, keep public institutions honest, and make sure laws are more than just words on paper. 

The role of the US Attorney General and the potential pitfalls

The United States attorney general is appointed by the president and confirmed by the US Senate to head the Department of Justice (DOJ), serve as the chief law enforcement officer and principal legal advisor to the President and federal government, and represent the United States in all legal matters. 

The attorney general also supervises federal prosecutions by the 93 U.S. attorneys who live and work across the United States to enforce federal laws. The attorney general also supervises almost all legal actions involving federal agencies – from the Department of Homeland Security and the Environmental Protection Agency to the Social Security Administration. 

Because the attorney general's expansive responsibilities place the office at the forefront of both politics and the law, the position is one of the most important in the federal executive branch. 

The attorney general plays a key role in helping the president perform his constitutional duty to take care that the laws of the United States are faithfully executed. Because the role is both political and legal, attorneys general historically have a difficult task in separating their jobs as policy adviser from their duties as chief legal officer of the United States. 

There is good reason for critics to question the relationship between the president and attorney general. As Kristine Olson, former U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon, wrote in the Yale Law and Policy Review, "The President's power to appoint the Attorney General of the United States as a member of the Cabinet subject to dismissal contains the seeds of a fundamental rule of law crisis in the politicization of the U.S. Department of Justice." In the past six presidential administrations, Olson writes, many attorneys general have yielded to presidential and political pressure when performing their jobs.

Todd Blanche is likely to do the same.

Todd Blanche isn’t the right person for the job

Before picking Todd Blanche to help lead and now run the Justice Department, Donald Trump was his client. Trump hired Blanche to defend him in the District Attorney's Office of New York County's prosecution of the former president over concealed hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels. Blanche later defended him in the federal classified documents and election obstruction cases. He led Trump's defense in his criminal trial. 

As acting US attorney general, Blanche is behind some of the worst Department of Justice abuses, including trying to take taxpayers’ money for a $1.8 billion January 6 slush fund, greenlighting Trump tax fraud, targeting political opponents, and denying accountability for ICE abuses and the Epstein crimes. 

While many attorneys general have yielded to the pressure, some have not. For example, in large part because of her reputation for high ethical standards when navigating the job, Janet Reno – President Clinton's attorney general – was the longest-serving attorney general in the 20th century. 

It's time to act

The destruction of the rule of law creates a government in which the powerful decide how and against whom the law is applied. Blanche has shown that his loyalty to Trump matters more than the rule of law. 

Tell Senator John Husted to VOTE NO on Todd Blanche’s confirmation. Blanche will need every single Republican member to vote for him before his nomination can go before the full Senate. While Husted usually votes with Trump, he recently voted against the above-mentioned $1.8 billion January 6 slush fund. That gives us hope that, with enough pressure, Husted will oppose Blanche’s nomination and stand up for the rule of law.