Todd Blanche’s rise to attorney general
Blanche also represented Trump in two federal criminal cases. One occurred in Florida, where he was being prosecuted for improperly retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and then lying to investigators about it.
That case was ultimately thrown out by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was illegal.
The other was the federal election interference case, which Smith brought against Trump in Washington. That case and a Justice Department appeal of Cannon’s decision were dropped after Trump’s re-election.
Bondi said on X that Blanche was “amazing” and that she would work directly with him on the transition.
Mimi Rocah, who worked with Blanche in the Southern District of New York, was initially hopeful about his tenure as deputy attorney general, saying in 2024 that he “believes in the Justice Department’s vision of doing the right thing, in the right way, for the right reasons.”
She no longer has hope. Rocah told NBC News on Thursday that Blanche had “shown in his role as deputy attorney general that he is willing to act more like Donald Trump’s defense attorney than a court official who defends his employees, seeks justice and attempts to uphold the rule of law.”
“I don’t expect anything different from him in this elevated role,” she added.
Stacey Young, a former Justice Department official who founded the group Justice Connection, which seeks to highlight the Trump administration’s changes to the Justice Department, said Blanche “never stopped viewing himself as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer” and that he used his position “to illegally fire career employees, defame whistleblowers and attack the justice system.”
“Time and time again, he showed that his guiding star was loyalty to the president and not respect for the rule of law,” Young said.
Like Bondi, Blanche has been embroiled in the public battle over the Justice Department’s handling of its review of the case against Jeffrey Epstein, the politically connected sex offender who committed suicide in federal prison while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.
After some Trump supporters accused the Justice Department of covering up for Epstein by announcing in July that it would not prosecute anyone else in the case or release more information, Blanche announced that she would personally interview Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
In the interview, Maxwell said she never saw Trump behave inappropriately while he was friends with Epstein. She was then transferred to a lower security facility. Blanche defended the decision as necessary for her safety.
Blanche also took the lead in the Justice Department’s release of its Epstein files after Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He announced in December that the Justice Department would release hundreds of thousands of records, but then released only a small fraction of them.
The ministry released more files in late January. Millions were withheld, most of which Blanche said were duplicates, but about 200,000 were withheld or redacted for various legal reasons.
The law’s co-authors, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said it was potentially a violation of the law and that most of this information should be disclosed. Blanche said he followed the law.
During a podcast appearance, Blanche was asked about Epstein and the many conspiracy theories that have swirled. He said he wasn’t a conspiracy theorist himself, but he talked about their “beauty” and “importance.”
“When I say I’m not a conspiracy theorist, it’s because if you’re right, then it’s not a conspiracy theory; it’s totally true,” he said.
After Trump’s announcement Thursday, Blanche spoke to X to thank Bondi “for his leadership and friendship” and Trump “for the trust and opportunity to serve.”
“We will continue to support blue, enforce the law, and do everything in our power to keep America safe,” his message said.
