Trump nominates Todd Blanche, loyalist targeting his political foes, for attorney general

President Donald Trump has nominated Todd Blanche — a staunch loyalist who has aggressively targeted the president’s enemies for prosecution and backed the idea of sending federal agents to the polls —to be attorney general.

With the nomination Monday, Trump is doubling down on a figure who has proven extremely controversial — even among some Republicans — since he became attorney general in an acting capacity two months ago.

Since taking the helm of the Department of Justice (DOJ), Blanche has attempted to prove to Trump that he’s the right man for the permanent role by accelerating sham criminal probes and cases against the president’s enemies and progressive organizations that have long drawn the ire of conservatives.

In one of his first public statements in his acting role, Blanche said Trump had a “right” and “duty” to order the DOJ to target specific people, clearly indicating that he views the department as the president’s personal law firm and not as the politically impartial and independent law enforcement agency it has traditionally been.

Blanche, who was formerly deputy attorney general, assumed the acting role after Trump dismissed former Attorney General Pam Bondi in April. The president was reportedly frustrated that Bondi had failed to target his political enemies aggressively enough during her chaotic tenure.

Perhaps learning from those criticisms of Bondi, Blanche quickly moved to execute Trump’s political agenda and pursue his longest-standing personal grievances.

In late April, he announced criminal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, a storied civil rights organization that for decades has monitored and exposed extremist groups in the U.S. 

And days later, Blanche also unveiled charges against former FBI Director James Comey, one of Trump’s longtime targets. The department accused Comey of making threats against the president by publishing a photo on social media of seashells arranged on the beach to read “86 47,” an anti-Trump slogan.

Blanche has also supported the idea of sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to monitor voting.

“Why is there objection to sending ICE officers to polling places?” Blanche asked at a conservative conference earlier this year. “Illegals can’t vote. It doesn’t make any sense.”

It’s unclear whether Senate Republicans, particularly some on the Judiciary Committee, will support Blanche’s nomination.

Last month, several Republicans excoriated the acting attorney general for his leading role in creating a nearly $1.8 billion slush fund to compensate Trump’s political allies for alleged political persecution. The fund was part of a settlement to resolve a bizarre lawsuit Trump filed against his own administration.

While Blanche earlier this week said that the DOJ is not moving forward with the fund, he made that claim only after a federal judge temporarily barred the department from setting up or distributing payments from it in response to multiple lawsuits against it.

Blanche also said other aspects of the settlement remain in effect, namely a provision permanently barring the Internal Revenue Service from auditing Trump, his sons, and the Trump Organization — essentially exempting them from tax law.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters last week that he didn’t know whether Blanche would face an uphill battle getting confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate.

“This is an environment where nothing’s a safe or sure bet these days,” Thune said, though he added that most Republicans remain “pretty deferential to who the president wants in some of these key positions.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement Monday that the committee’s “work to process Blanche’s nomination is underway.”

Trump’s nomination of Blanche was the second divisive designation he made in recent days.

Last week, Trump also named loyalist Bill Pulte, a top housing official who has unexpectedly become one of his main political attack dogs, to replace outgoing Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard in an acting capacity.