Attorney General Todd Blanche Defends DOJ Record as Political Pressure Mounts

Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking with the Associated Press during a trip to Puerto Rico, insisted Thursday that he is committed to the rule of law and rejected suggestions that he is acting as President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer inside the Justice Department. Blanche said his integrity and commitment to legal norms have not changed, and he rejected the premise that recent actions amount to unethical behavior, telling the AP, “My integrity, my commitment to the rule of law is the same today that it was the day I graduated.”

Blanche’s public defense comes weeks after a bruising confirmation fight in the Senate that ended with a narrow vote in early August and a formal swearing-in shortly thereafter. Opponents had pointed to a May settlement tied to President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS and an associated nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund as evidence the department’s independence was eroding; Blanche formally rescinded the May 18 fund order in an Aug. 2 Justice Department filing while leaving intact legal questions about the related settlement language.

The attorney general used the interview to emphasize traditional law-enforcement metrics — arrests, seizures and prosecutions the department says show progress on crime, drugs and national security — and to push back against critics who say the department has been politicized. But Blanche also acknowledged the department faces “trust” problems in some courts and must rebuild relationships with judges and career prosecutors shaken by high-profile missteps and litigation over the Justice Department’s tactics under the current administration. Those concerns have been aired publicly by judges who in several cases have questioned government conduct and ordered reviews of prosecutors’ actions.

Critics from both parties and from former Justice Department officials point to a string of politically charged actions that have raised alarm: unusually broad settlements protecting the president and his family from certain audits, the revived use of prosecutions that were later dismissed in high-profile cases, and staffing churn linked to the department’s leadership decisions. Supporters argue Blanche’s background as a former federal prosecutor makes him the best available candidate to steady the agency while implementing the White House’s law-enforcement priorities. Reporting and public records show Blanche’s confirmation and the fund controversy were decisive factors in the narrow margin by which the Senate approved him.

Blanche’s legal moves — including the rescission order and public testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee — have not ended litigation or congressional scrutiny. Plaintiffs and some judges have signaled they will press questions about whether the settlements and rescissions were sufficient to moot lawsuits, and oversight Republicans and Democrats alike continue to threaten fresh hearings and demands for documents. The Justice Department’s Aug. 2 rescission memo states the fund “shall have no force or effect,” but it also acknowledges outstanding court challenges and the narrow, technical limits of some orders tied to the settlement.

For now, Blanche is navigating competing pressures: satisfy a president who has publicly pushed for expansive remedies for his allies, reassure skeptical senators and judges that the department will follow legal norms, and keep a demoralized workforce focused on prosecutions and investigations. In his interview, Blanche framed the department’s actions as law-enforcement successes while insisting he would not carry out anything “unethical or improper,” language that both reassured some allies and left persistent questions about how the DOJ will handle politically sensitive probes going forward.