Todd Blanche was sworn in as Attorney General of the United States earlier this week — by Emil Bove, because of course — and today he addressed the DOJ workforce with a message that can be summarized as: ignore everything you have seen with your own eyes for the last 18 months.
“I promise you that I will lead this department with integrity,” Blanche told the tens of thousands of prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and support staff he now oversees. “I promise you that I will focus on our core mission which is to uphold the rule of law fairly and impartially, to keep this great country safe and to protect the rights of every citizen in this country.”
Okay… well let’s just recap Blanche’s tenure at the DOJ as the Deputy AG and Acting AG, shall we? Blanche declared it the president’s “right and duty” to direct criminal investigations of his political enemies, he introduced himself as Trump’s lawyer at his own confirmation hearing, he presided over the departure of 16,000 DOJ employees — including career prosecutors fired for refusing to lie in court, is accused by former colleagues of breaking his oath to the Constitution, and created a $1.8 billion slush fund to compensate Trump allies (which nearly tanked his confirmation to the AG post). Integrity!
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There was also this, delivered with apparent sincerity, “We will always respect the role of the judiciary.” This from a man confirmed in an administration that has talked an unending amount of smack about federal judges and watched the threats against judges skyrocket. Under Blanche’s leadership, the DOJ has been found to have made arguments federal judges across the political spectrum have described as “pretextual,” “disingenuous,” and “bad faith.” Blanche added, perhaps anticipating the obvious follow-up, “We’re not going to be intimidated out of enforcing the law.” Sure. That’s what’s been happening… intimidation… by the judges?
Blanche told his new workforce, “You make me look good,” that he welcomed disagreements over policy, and promised integrity, impartiality, respect for the judiciary, and fair enforcement of the law. These are, by any measure, the right things to say on your first day. They are also, given everything we have watched this DOJ do for the last 18 months, just words. Todd Blanche has made a lot of promises, and, frankly, we know how that tends to go.
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Former DOJ Prosecutors To Senate: Blanche Took The Same Oath We Did. But He Didn’t Keep It.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1