Reject the Confirmation of Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General

Dear Senator:

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 72 additional organizations
write to express our strong opposition to the confirmation of Acting Attorney General Todd
Blanche as the next Attorney General of the United States. The Leadership Conference
intends to include your position in our voting record for the 119th Congress.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was created more than 150 years ago in part to
enforce the Reconstruction Amendments aimed at abolishing slavery, ensuring equal
protection under the law, and securing voting rights for Black Americans. Its mission
historically included the enforcement of our federal civil rights laws and the upholding of
principles of equality and justice that are foundational to American democracy.

Blanche’s nomination flies in the face of this history and these principles. As Deputy
Attorney General and Acting Attorney General, he bears responsibility for the DOJ’s
transformation into a protector of President Trump’s personal and political interests, rather
than the protector of the people’s rights through the neutral use of prosecutorial powers. He
has turned the DOJ into an instrument of Trump’s personal rage and revenge. He has turned
the Department into a defender of civil rights violators, instead prosecuting organizations
and people who have worked to hold the government accountable and who have fought for
civil rights and against hate and extremism.

Blanche has repeatedly demonstrated he is committed to serving Trump above all and to
dismantling and reversing our nation’s civil rights progress. He would not even commit to
recusing himself from matters where he served as Trump’s personal attorney. He remains the
president’s lawyer, still representing his client, but now with the full resources of the federal
government behind him.

Examples of Blanche’s Record

During his tenure, before and after his elevation to Acting Attorney General, Blanche has:

• Publicly asserted Trump has a “right” and a “duty” to direct the Department to investigate specific individuals, breaking with 50 years of post-Watergate independence.
• Weaponized the federal government in a coordinated attack against those deemed political enemies who are fighting to protect civil rights including the Southern Poverty Law Center, and civic participation organizations like the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.
• Publicly endorsed sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to polling stations in the 2026 midterm elections at a Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event, where he also agreed with a debunked claim of widespread noncitizen voting and praised the Civil Rights Division’s corrupt and dangerous effort to obtain unredacted state voter rolls. His appearance at a partisan political event broke with decades of internal DOJ policy.
• Told anti-abortion activists, on a private call last week, that DOJ is working “hand in hand” with
  federal agencies and the White House to make Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization
  permanent in every single state, after dodging questions about the issue in his confirmation hearing.
• Personally interviewed convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell over two days in a closed
  door meeting, with no other DOJ prosecutors or law enforcement personnel present. Days after the interview, Maxwell was transferred to a minimum-security prison camp.
• Was found by a federal judge to have broken the law by withholding the disclosure of the Jeffrey
  Epstein files – and in a meeting with Epstein survivors, “danced around his wording” and “repeatedly interrupted” according to one survivor, and was “very condescending” and refused to answer questions about why investigative leads and referrals had not been followed, according to another.
• In response to bipartisan concerns about the Trump slush fund for January 6 rioters and his tax
  immunity deal, provided written assurances that have been described as “not worth the paper they’re printed on” and which one Trump supporter said “can be undone after Tuesday.”
• Weaponized the False Claims Act (FCA) to advance the President’s political agenda when, in May
  2025, he launched the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative to investigate and bring fraud claims against
  private companies, educational institutions, and other federal contractors and grantees that certify their compliance with federal civil rights laws. Blanche has asserted that these entities may be liable under the FCA if they engage in practices to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
• Fired two immigration judges, Judges Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, because they refused to rubber stamp deportations of pro-Palestinian voices. This followed an announcement by Blanche in March 2025 that the DOJ was investigating whether pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University violated federal anti-terrorism laws, stating “this is long overdue.” Patel and Froes were among six judges fired that day and 113 fired since January of last year.
• Fired a 15-year DOJ immigration attorney, Erez Reuveni, for truthfully telling a court that Kilmar
  Abrego Garcia had been wrongfully deported to El Salvador. In a subsequent whistleblower
  disclosure to Congress, Reuveni alleged senior officials directed subordinates to defy court orders and make false statements to judges.
• Moved to erase the seditious conspiracy convictions of 12 Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders for their involvement in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Trump had previously commuted, but not pardoned, these defendants. Vacating the convictions would erase their felonies and restore their firearms rights ahead of the 2026 midterms.
• Removed the career prosecutor leading the investigation of former CIA Director John Brennan after she raised concerns about the sufficiency of the evidence, and replaced her with Joseph diGenova, a longtime Trump devotee who has publicly called Brennan a traitor. Several weeks later, Blanche publicly defended the felony prosecution of another Trump adversary, former FBI Director James Comey, for posting a photo of seashells on his social media account.

Conclusion

The role of the Attorney General is not to protect the interests of the President, but to protect the interests of the nation’s people. But throughout his tenure at DOJ, Todd Blanche has repeatedly acted as the president’s personal lawyer still representing his client — and he is now using his powers to indict civil rights organizations, vacate the convictions of seditious conspirators, fire career prosecutors who tell the truth in court, and supervise the prosecution of Trump’s political adversaries.

His record disqualifies him from serving as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. As such, we urge
you to reject his confirmation.

Sincerely,

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
A. Philip Randolph Institute
Alliance for Justice
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Atheists
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Humanist Association
Americans for Financial Reform
Arab American Institute (AAI)
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC
Black Voters Matter Fund
Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
Coalition on Human Needs
Common Cause
Constitutional Accountability Center
Court Accountability Action
Defend the Vote Action Fund
Defending Rights & Dissent
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated
Demand Justice
Democracy 21
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Drug Policy Alliance
Earthjustice Action
Equal Justice Society
Equal Rights Advocates
Fair Fight Action
Feminist Majority Foundation
FFRF Action Fund
Human Rights Campaign
Indivisible
Just Detention International
Lambda Legal
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Lawyers for Good Government
League of Conservation Voters
League of Women Voters of the United States
Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund
Matthew Shepard Foundation
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.
National Action Network
National Council of Jewish Women
National Education Association
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Immigration Law Center
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Women’s Law Center
National Women’s Political Caucus
National Workrights Institute
NBJC
NCNW
Oasis Legal Services
People For the American Way
Pregnancy Justice
Public Citizen
Reproaction
Reproductive Freedom for All
Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
Stand Up America
The Feminist Majority
The Fenway Institute
The Sikh Coalition
Trans Empowerment Project
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
Voices for Progress
Voto Latino
Western States Center
Women Lawyers On Guard Action Network