In May 2025, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat, arrived at an ICE detention facility in his New Jersey city and asked for a tour. Though he was initially let inside the facility’s gate, he was soon confronted by about a dozen federal law enforcement officers and asked to leave. And so he did.
For a moment, that seemed like it would be the end of this incident, but then one of the officers had a phone call. A video, later submitted to a federal court, shows this officer turning to his fellow law enforcers after the call and informing them, “We are arresting the mayor right now, per the deputy attorney general of the United States.”
That deputy attorney general was Todd Blanche, who is now the acting leader of the Department of Justice. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Blanche to become the Senate-confirmed attorney general of the United States.
The practical stakes of this nomination are fairly low. Federal law provides that if the attorney general’s job is vacant, “the Deputy Attorney General may exercise all the duties of that office.” And the Senate already confirmed Blanche as deputy AG (or “DAG” as the job is known within the DOJ). So, Blanche has already been leading the Justice Department since former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s exit in April, and, one way or another, he will continue to do so.
But Trump’s decision to nominate Blanche reveals the president’s confidence in a man who has distinguished himself solely by his willingness to act as Trump’s toady. If he’s officially confirmed, that is not likely to change.
Blanche is Trump’s goon
Blanche was Trump’s personal lawyer before he arrived at the Justice Department. As DAG, Blanche oversaw the Justice Department’s criminal investigations and prosecutions, including the DOJ’s 93 regional US Attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies such as the FBI.
That means that Blanche’s involvement in the Baraka arrest wasn’t an isolated incident — at a hearing formally dismissing the charges against Baraka, a federal magistrate judge scolded the DOJ for “using the immense power of the government to pursue weak cases or to make examples without sufficient cause.” Blanche was the senior Justice Department executive overseeing political prosecutions targeting a wide range of Trump’s perceived enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump reportedly decided to remove Blanche’s predecessor, Bondi, in part due to the president’s belief that Bondi “was not moving forcefully enough against the White House’s supposed political enemies.” Since taking over Bondi’s job duties, Blanche appears to have worked hard to reassure Trump that he will not make the same mistake.
Although a federal court dismissed the first round of federal charges against Comey, the Blanche-led department reindicted Comey for posting a picture of seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47.” “86” is restaurant slang often used to say that an item should be removed or is unavailable. “47” is a reference to Trump, the 47th US president.
A message saying that the sitting president should be removed is obviously protected by the First Amendment, but Blanche’s Justice Department claims that the former FBI director was threatening Trump’s life.
Similarly, under Blanche’s leadership, the Justice Department reportedly launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, a magazine writer who won $88.3 million in damages against Trump after a jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation.
Blanche’s primary qualification for the attorney general job, in other words, appears to be his eagerness to use the awesome power of the Department of Justice as a weapon against people who have previously slighted or fought Donald Trump.
Blanche was also the face of Trump’s $1.8 billion “slush fund”
Blanche was also a central figure in a Trump-led scheme that closely resembles embezzlement.
Last month, Blanche’s Justice Department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” that could be used to distribute money from the US Treasury to Trump’s allies, including participants in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. The fund would have been administered by five people chosen by Blanche.
A DOJ press release announcing the fund states explicitly that the fund was “established” by the “Attorney General,” a role that is being carried out by Blanche.
One problem with this fund is that the Constitution prohibits money from being drawn from the Treasury without congressional approval. The Justice Department was apparently involved in the fund as part of a scheme to get around this constitutional requirement.
While Congress never authorized this slush fund — indeed, the slush fund appears to have been killed due to bipartisan opposition to it in Congress — there is an existing federal law that permits the Treasury to pay plaintiffs who successfully sue the federal government. So Trump filed a fake lawsuit against the United States. His lawyers then “settled” this lawsuit with the Justice Department, which is led by Blanche, who is also Trump’s former personal lawyer.
In a different presidential administration, a Cabinet official’s involvement in such a scheme would lead to their resignation, or worse. Again, Todd Blanche effectively conspired with Trump to steal nearly $1.8 billion from the US government. He also humiliated Trump and antagonized Congress by signing off on this scheme.
But in the Trump administration, loyalty is valued far more than competence or adherence to the law. As acting AG, Blanche repeatedly targeted Trump’s perceived enemies and he helped orchestrate one of Trump’s most cockamamie schemes. So, instead of demanding his resignation, Trump wants to promote Blanche.
One open question, however, is whether Blanche will be successful as Trump’s enforcer. Bondi turned out to be a rank incompetent when she took over the Justice Department, and DOJ’s Bondi-era attempts to target Trump’s enemies largely fizzled. Blanche’s inept management of the $1.8 billion slush fund may be an early sign that he is no better.
