Todd Blanche was confirmed as Deputy Attorney General on March 5, 2025, and became Acting Attorney General on April 2, 2026 – but he has never stopped acting as President Trump’s personal lawyer. Under his leadership, more than 16,000 DOJ employees have left the department, including a quarter of its attorneys. He has overseen the termination of approximately 280 employees, including agents, attorneys, and professional staff who worked on January 6 cases and the Special Counsel Jack Smith investigations.
Below is a list of actions Blanche has taken as Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General that harmed the department’s workforce, advanced the politicization of the department, undermined the rule of law, and threatened public safety. These are actions that have been publicly reported and may not be exhaustive.
As Deputy Attorney General, he oversees the day-to-day operations of the department, including personnel matters, the Criminal and National Security Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the Office of Immigration Review, federal law enforcement components like the FBI, and much more. As Acting Attorney General, he is responsible for the entire department.
A full account of the attacks on DOJ during Blanche’s leadership as Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General can be found in Justice Connection’s DOJ tracker.
Loyalty to President Trump
- Feb. 19, 2026: News breaks that a top aide to Deputy Attorney General Blanche told leaders of all 93 U.S. Attorney’s Offices that President Trump is their “chief client.”
- April 11, 2026: Acting Attorney General Blanche tells NBC that Americans should be “happy” that President Trump is deeply involved in DOJ matters. Blanche also said that if the president nominates someone else to be Attorney General, he would answer, “thank you very much. I love you, sir.”
- April 27, 2026: Acting Attorney General Blanche signed a motion asking a federal judge to allow the White House ballroom construction to move forward. The filing mimics the writing style of President Trump, with accusations of “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
- May 11, 2026: News breaks that President Trump’s private complaints to Acting Attorney General Blanche about Iran War leaks led to aggressive DOJ investigations into reporters and leakers.
- May 14, 2026: CNN reports that Blanche was told in March 2025 that he would have to recuse himself from cases involving President Trump.
- May 19, 2026: Acting Attorney General Blanche signs an addendum expanding the Trump v. IRS settlement to bar the IRS from conducting tax audits of President Trump, his family, and his company for past tax returns.
- June 2, 2026: Acting Attorney General Blanche testifies before Congress that the Anti-Weaponization Fund will not move forward, but refuses to formalize the decision in writing. He also affirms the addendum providing President Trump, his family, and his company tax immunity.
Devastating DOJ’s Workforce
- March 25, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche issues a memo proposing the merger of ATF and DEA, and cutting staff in Criminal Division and National Security Division offices that handle foreign bribery, counter-intelligence, and export controls. It also proposes merging all grant offices into one, eliminating the Community Relations Service, spreading Tax Division attorneys across U.S. Attorney’s Offices, housing the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch in the Criminal Division, moving some cyber resources to the National Security Division, and merging all policy offices.
- April 5, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche puts Erez Reuveni on administrative leave over his representation of the government in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case. Blanche writes in the letter that Reuveni failed to follow orders and committed “conduct prejudicial to your client.”
- April 7, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche announces that DOJ’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Unit will be disbanded.
- April 9, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche issues a memo barring DOJ employees from participating in American Bar Association events, saying the ABA engages in “activist causes.” A day later, DOJ cancels $3.2 million in grants to the ABA meant for training lawyers to represent victims of domestic and sexual abuse.
- April 15, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche issues a new policy threatening stiff penalties for employees who post anything related to work on social media.
- Feb. 12, 2026: Deputy Attorney General Blanche fires Donald Kinsella hours after Kinsella was appointed to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York by a federal court.
- Feb. 21, 2026: Deputy Attorney General Blanche fires an attorney immediately after he was chosen by federal judges to lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
- April 7, 2026: Acting Attorney General Blanche issues a memo shifting fraud attorneys from the Criminal Division to the newly-created Fraud Division, despite earlier assurances that those attorneys would remain in place.
- May 6, 2026: Acting Attorney General Blanche says DOJ will weed out immigration judges it feels are acting too slowly or “not applying the law in the way it needs to be applied.”
- April 11, 2026: DOJ issues its first report from the Weaponization Working Group accusing the Biden administration of biased prosecutions against violent anti-abortion activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinics (FACE) Act. Acting Attorney General Blanche releases a statement saying, in part, “The weaponization that happened under the Biden Administration will not happen again, as we restore integrity to our prosecutorial system.” On the same day, DOJ fires several attorneys who prosecuted cases under the FACE Act during the Biden administration.
Political Prosecutions and Investigations
- Aug. 20, 2025: News breaks that Deputy Attorney General Blanche pressured U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Todd Gilbert to pursue an investigation into whether Biden administration officials had mishandled classified documents related to the 2016 Russia investigation. Career prosecutors did not think there was enough evidence to warrant criminal charges. Gilbert resigned after refusing orders from DOJ leadership to sideline those career officials.
- Sept. 16, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche calls for investigations into “organized” protests when protesters shouted at Trump during his dinner at a DC restaurant.
- Sept. 25, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche’s office directs multiple U.S. Attorney’s Offices to investigate George Soros’ Open Society Foundations with suggestions for a wide range of charges.
- Dec. 30, 2025: News breaks that top DOJ leaders, including Deputy Attorney General Blanche, pressured federal prosecutors in Nashville to bring criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The court later dismisses the case for vindictive prosecution, citing Blanche’s statements.
- April 18, 2026: DOJ hires and immediately installs Trump loyalist Joseph DiGenova to lead the investigation into John Brennan. The lead career prosecutor in Miami previously handling the case was removed after she expressed doubts about its validity.
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- On June 2, 2026, DOJ hires Kurt Olsen, a White House official who helped President Trump try to overturn the 2020 election results, to join that same office as a senior attorney.
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- April 21, 2026: DOJ indicts the Southern Poverty Law Center for allegedly defrauding donors by having a paid informant program. Acting Attorney General Blanche claims during a press conference announcing the indictment that the SPLC was “manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.” The SPLC later says that federal law enforcement knew about and was aided by its paid informant program.
- April 28, 2026: The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina indicts former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly threatening the president by posting a photo of shells that spell out “86 47.” Acting Attorney General Blanche says at a press conference that “While this case is unique, and this indictment stands out because of the name of the defendant, his alleged conduct is the same kind of conduct that we will never tolerate and that we will always investigate.”
- April 30, 2026: News breaks that ever since Blanche became Acting Attorney General, DOJ has been pursuing additional charges against former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly leaking classified information.
- May 1, 2026: A whistleblower report alleges that an “enforcer” for Acting Attorney General Blanche ordered Alabama prosecutors to “rush through” the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, despite concerns about the strength of the case.
January 6
- Aug. 6, 2025: New footage shows a senior advisor in the Deputy Attorney General’s office, Jared Wise, encouraged rioters to “kill” officers during Jan. 6. Wise works on reviews of alleged “weaponization.”
- April 11, 2026: Under Acting Attorney General Blanche’s leadership, DOJ moves to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders for their role in Jan. 6.
- May 18, 2026: Acting Attorney General Blanche establishes a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that would compensate “victims” of “weaponization and lawfare” following a settlement with President Trump where Trump agreed to drop his lawsuit against the IRS over leaked tax returns. Blanche refuses to rule out payouts to Jan. 6 defendants who assaulted police.
- May 22, 2026: Under Acting Attorney General Blanche’s leadership,DOJ deletes press releases about Jan. 6 defendants from its website and calls the press releases “partisan propaganda” on X.
Jeffery Epstein Files
- Late March, 2025: DOJ moves to publish Jeffrey Epstein files without fully redacting witness and victim details.
- May 2025: Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche tell President Trump that his name is in the Epstein files.
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- On July 18, news breaks that FBI officials were told to flag any mentions of President Trump in Jeffrey Epstein case files.
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- July 24, 2025: News breaks that DOJ and FBI diverted hundreds of employees from their regular duties to review the Epstein files. The review process was led by the Deputy Attorney General’s office.
- July 24, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche interviews Ghislaine Maxwell over Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct and connections. Shortly after this interview, she is moved to a minimum-security prison where she receives special privileges.
- Dec. 31, 2025: DOJ seeks to enlist 400 lawyers from the Criminal Division, National Security Division, and U.S. Attorney’s offices in Florida and New York for the DAG-led review of the Epstein files.
- Feb. 24: News breaks that DOJ withheld Epstein files that detailed allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor, despite Deputy Attorney General Blanche telling Congress in a letter that no records were redacted or withheld “on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”
- March 18, 2026: Sen. Ron Wyden says Deputy Attorney General Blanche blocked the release of a 2015 OCDETF memo that showed Jeffrey Epstein had been investigated for drug trafficking and prostitution.
- May 29, 2026: Pam Bondi says in an interview with a congressional committee that Deputy Attorney General Blanche led DOJ’s review and release of the Epstein files “from the beginning.”
Minnesota Enforcement
- Jan. 13, 2026: Deputy Attorney General Blanche says there’s “no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation” into the shooting of Renee Good.
- Jan. 14, 2026: Deputy Attorney General Blanche posts on X that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are “encouraging violence against law enforcement” and describing their actions as “terrorism.”
- Jan. 19, 2026: Deputy Attorney General Blanche sends a civil rights unit to investigate a protest that disrupted church services in Minnesota. However, he declined to open a civil rights investigation into Renee Good’s killing.
- Jan. 20, 2026: News breaks that the Deputy Attorney General’s office directed the FBI to investigate Minnesota officials’ campaign contributions.
- Jan. 23, 2026: News breaks that Deputy Attorney General Blanche directed the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI to shut down a civil rights investigation into Renee Good’s death, and to instead investigate Good for potential assault.
- Jan. 30, 2026. Deputy Attorney General Blanche announces that DOJ will open a civil rights investigation into Alex Pretti’s death after first refusing. The investigation team was later found to exclude career attorneys who specialize in excessive force cases.
Defying the Courts
- March 14, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche attends a meeting in which Emil Bove tells attorneys they may need to say “fuck you” to the courts if judges block immigrants from being removed from the U.S.
- Nov. 7, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche asks young conservative lawyers to join a “war” against the federal judiciary at a Federalist Society event.
- Feb. 10, 2026: News breaks that the Deputy Attorney General’s Office asked leaders of the 93 U.S. Attorney’s Offices to send examples of perceived judicial activism for potential impeachment referrals.
Miscellaneous
- May 25, 2025: News breaks that Blanche had talked with then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove about dropping the Eric Adams corruption charges before Blanche was in office, despite telling lawmakers at his confirmation hearing that he had no direct knowledge of the case. Blanche was reportedly on the “same page” as Bove.
- April 4, 2025: The Deputy Attorney General’s office directs the Justice Department’s Security and Emergency Planning Staff to dispatch two U.S. Marshals to Liz Oyer’s house to discourage her from appearing in Congress two days before her scheduled testimony.
- May 19, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche issues a memo directing DOJ to use the False Claims Act to pressure institutions to abandon DEI efforts.
- Sept. 20, 2025: DOJ shut down an investigation into border czar Tom Homan for allegedly accepting a $50,000 bribe, with Deputy Attorney General Blanche saying, “The Department’s resources must remain focused on real threats to the American people, not baseless investigations. As a result, the investigation has been closed.”
- Dec. 4, 2025: Deputy Attorney General Blanche tells white collar lawyers to stop criticizing DOJ if they want a good deal for their clients.
- Dec. 22, 2025: News breaks that Deputy Attorney General Blanche held crypto assets while directing the department to stop enforcement against crypto companies, in violation of ethics guidance.
- Feb. 12, 2026: Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Antitrust Division leaves DOJ after months of clashing with Deputy Attorney General Blanche, including disagreements over the HPE/Juniper merger.
- Feb. 18, 2026: News breaks that aides of Deputy Attorney General Blanche are part of a DHS working group to investigate voter rolls in search of noncitizens.
- March 2, 2026: Deputy Attorney General Blanche rescinds the department’s policy against no-knock warrants in most cases.
- April 7, 2026: Acting Attorney General Blanche says that DOJ is providing legal counsel to the White House on military strikes in Iran.
- April 24, 2026: DOJ announces it will permit executions by firing squad and pentobarbital. The Biden Administration had removed pentobarbital from approved methods following concerns of unnecessary pain. Acting Attorney General Blanche says in a statement that “The prior administration failed in its duty to protect the American people by refusing to pursue and carry out the ultimate punishment against the most dangerous criminals.”
- April 29, 2026: DOJ rolls back more than 30 firearms regulations, including a rule that had closed the gun show loophole. Acting Attorney General Blanche calls it the “most comprehensive regulatory reform package in the history” of ATF.
- April 30, 2026: DOJ issues a new report accusing the Biden administration of anti-Christian bias. In a statement announcing the report, Acting Attorney General Blanche says DOJ will ““continue to expose bad actors who targeted Christians.”
- May 8, 2026: DOJ announces a major increase in denaturalization efforts. Acting Attorney General Blanche told CBS that he believes there are “a lot of individuals who are citizens who shouldn’t be.”
