Dear Senators,

As organizations committed to the rule of law and the independence of federal law enforcement, we write to urge every member of the Senate to oppose the confirmation of Todd Blanche as Attorney General.

No one in the history of the Justice Department has moved directly from representing a
president in criminal proceedings to leading the very institution that prosecuted most of those
cases. Blanche as Attorney General would represent a new low, and an unprecedented
corruption of the institution itself. The Senate has a constitutional obligation to answer one
question: does the Justice Department serve the American people, or does it serve Donald
Trump?

In 2023, Blanche left his law firm to become Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney across
three concurrent cases: the hush money trial, the federal classified documents case, and
matters related to January 6th. For two years, he had one job: keep local, state, and federal
investigators away from his client Donald Trump, and in particular, to shield Trump from the
Justice Department.

Now he controls that very federal agency. The same man who built Trump’s legal defenses now
controls federal prosecutions nationwide. Blanche is still Trump’s lawyer – the only thing that
changed when he walked into the Justice Department is that now the American people are
paying for it. And the American people are left without a lawyer of their own.

Blanche has explicitly rejected decades of Justice Department practice. At his first press
conference as acting Attorney General, he declared: “I love working for President Trump. It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime.” He’s told NBC News that Americans should be “happy” Trump is
“deeply involved” in DOJ decisions. He dismissed the longstanding separation between the
White House and DOJ as “the most false statement I have ever heard.” His subsequent actions
prove he meant every word:

● In just the first weeks as acting Attorney General, Blanche approved a criminal inquiry
into January 6th witness Cassidy Hutchinson, launched a civil rights investigation into
ActBlue, obtained an indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and secured a
second indictment of former FBI Director James Comey after a judge dismissed the first.
This is his client’s perceived enemies list, now being pursued with federal power.
● Blanche’s DOJ filed motions to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath
Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and numerous Proud Boys members who attacked the
Capitol on January 6th. These motions go beyond Trump’s pardons and commutations.
They are an attempt to erase the judicial record that these individuals conspired to use
force against the United States government.
● Blanche justified firing career prosecutors who worked on Trump cases as an “ethical
obligation,” then attended CPAC – violating longstanding DOJ policy prohibiting senior
officials from appearing at partisan political events – where he boasted that the FBI had
“cleaned house.”
● When the DOJ’s top ethics lawyer formally advised Blanche to recuse himself from all
matters involving Trump personally, Blanche ignored the advice and then DOJ fired that ethics official and gutted the Office of Professional Responsibility. Blanche has never
publicly recused himself from investigations involving Trump’s interests or targeting
Trump’s perceived enemies.

As Blanche’s conduct makes clear, former Attorney General Pam Bondi wasn’t removed
because she crossed a line. She was removed because she didn’t cross enough of them.
Blanche’s appointment escalates the weaponization of the DOJ beyond what even Bondi would
execute. Trump spent his first term searching for someone willing to turn the DOJ into a
personal weapon, asking repeatedly, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” In Todd Blanche, he has found
his answer.

Every member of this body took an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Honoring that oath means using the Senate’s confirmation authority to protect the independence of federal law enforcement. We urge every member of the Senate to oppose Todd Blanche’s confirmation.

Sincerely,

Alliance for Justice
American Oversight
Americans for Tax Fairness
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Clean Elections Texas
Common Cause
Constitutional Accountability Center
Democracy 21
Democracy Defenders Fund
Defend the Vote Action Fund
Demand Progress
End Citizens United
FFRF Action Fund
Greenpeace USA
Indivisible Chicago
Lawyers for Good Government
League of Conservation Voters
MoveOn
National Organization for Women
National Women’s Law Center
People For the American Way
People Power United
Protect Democracy
Public Citizen
Secure Elections Network

Southern Poverty Law Center
Stand Up America
The Workers Circle
Union of Concerned Scientists
Women Thinking Out Loud