US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he intends to nominate Todd Blanche for the position of Attorney General of the United States.
PHOTO: Todd Blanche via X
The announcement was made during a reception organized at the White House. According to the American press, the official nomination is to be sent to the Senate on Thursday, writes the Associated Press.
“We're going to make him the permanent attorney general,” Trump said.
Blanche currently heads the Department of Justice on an interim basis following the dismissal of Pam Bondi in April.
Trump's former lawyer
Todd Blanche is a former federal prosecutor who became nationally known after serving on Donald Trump's legal team, including in the lawsuit over payments made to buy the silence of an adult film actress.
After Trump's return to the White House, Blanche was named deputy attorney general and later took over as interim head of the Justice Department.
The Associated Press notes that he has repeatedly denied allegations that he is acting as the president's personal lawyer and has said he is trying to correct what he sees as abuses by the previous administration.
Controversies at the Department of Justice
His interim tenure was marked by several controversies. Critics of the administration accuse him of speeding up investigations targeting Trump's political opponents and using the Justice Department to advance the president's agenda.
Blanche was recently at the center of a dispute over a nearly $1.8 billion fund called the Anti-Weaponization Fund. According to the administration, it would provide compensation to people who believe they were wrongly investigated or prosecuted by previous administrations.
The proposal drew criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans after questions arose about whether people convicted of participating in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could receive such payments.
The Associated Press notes that the Justice Department dropped the project this week after backlash from Congress.
During the period in which she led the institution, Blanche also ordered the opening of investigations targeting people considered by Trump to be political opponents. Among them is former FBI director James Comey, who was indicted in April in a case he described as politically motivated.
Todd Blanche's nomination must be approved by the United States Senate in order for him to become a full attorney general.
