Who is Todd Blanche? Trump’s ex-personal lawyer in Stormy Daniels hush-money case nominated to replace Pam Bondi
Todd Blanche has been serving as the US attorney general since Pam Bondi's exit in April amid tension over the Justice Department's release of files linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
After weeks of signalling his intention, United States President Donald Trump has officially nominated his former personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, to serve as Attorney General. The White House confirmed that Trump submitted Blanche's name to the Senate.
Blanche, 51, has been acting Attorney General since Pam Bondi's removal in April, a move prompted by disagreements over her handling of Justice Department files linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and frustration that the department was not doing enough against the White House's supposed political enemies.
His nomination does not guarantee confirmation. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but party unity is far from assured given Blanche's controversial record.
Ahead of his nomination and his confirmation in the Senate, Blanche had said that he was “honored and humbled” that the president was planning to nominate him. He said he planned to work with senators to address their concerns.
“I have a good relationship with the Senate on both sides. I don’t say no to phone calls.”
Who is Todd Blanche?
Blanche is Trump's former personal lawyer who has defended him in several cases. He has been serving as acting attorney general since April. Since then, he has pursued a number of indictments against Trump's political enemies. Before joining Trump, Blanche was a registered Democrat.
As a lawyer, Blanche has represented former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, the businessman Igor Fruman, and the attorney Boris Epshteyn. In April 2023, Trump brought on Blanche to defend him in the New York criminal case centered on the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.
Trump hired him after he was indicted for retaining classified federal documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach. Blanche has represented Trump in his alleged participation in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
The former Justice Department number two also controversially defended a $1.8 billion "slush fund" to compensate Trump's political allies, which the administration has since dropped.
He was also on the defence team in two federal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith – for allegedly mishandling classified documents and for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
(With agency inputs)
About the Author
For about a decade, Livemint—News Desk has been a credible source for authentic and timely news, and well-researched analysis on national news, business, personal finance, corporates, politics and geopolitics. We bring the latest updates on all the listed companies on BSE and NSE, startups, mutual funds, Union ministries, geopolitics, and untapped human interest stories from around the world, helping our readers to stay informed on the latest developments around the globe. Our Coverage Areas 1. Companies: Comprehensive news and analysis on listed and unlisted companies, corporate announcements, corporate chatter, C-suite, business trends, hiring alerts, layoffs, work-life balance, world's top billionaires and richest and more. 2. Personal finance: Insights into mutual funds, small savings schemes like - PPF, SSY, post office savings scheme, stock to watch, personal loans, credit cards, top bank FDs, real estate, income tax and more. 3. Politics: Comprehensive coverage of general elections, state elections and bypolls, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha, Parliament, PMO, PIB, finance ministry, home ministry, among other union ministries and government departments. 4. National News: From metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and e to untapped stories from rural India, we cover human interest, health, education, crime and courts, and law and order, among other areas of public interest. 5. Economy: In-depth analysis of India's macro and micro-economic indicators like- GDP, inflation, forex, fiscal deficit, current account deficit, interest rate cycle, economic recovery, RBI circulars, indirect taxes, GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy imports, exports and everything that impacts Indian economy. 6. Geopolitics: Well-rounded and deeply researched coverage on US News, Oval Office European Union, Ukraine Russia War, middle-east crisis, royal families and global leaders like - Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and premiers of other leading economies in the world. Meet the Team 1. Gulam Jeelani, Political Affairs Editor 2. Sugam Singhal, Senior Assistant Editor 3. Chanchal, Assistant Editor 4. Sanchari Ghosh, Chief Content Producer 5. Pratik Prashant Mukane, Chief Content Producer 6. Sayantani Biswas, Chief Content Producer 7. Ravi Hari, Deputy Chief Content Producer 8. Garvit Bhirani, Deputy Chief Content Producer 9. Akriti Anand, Senior Content Producer 10. Jocelyn Felix Fernandes, Senior Content Producer 11. Swastika Das Sharma, Content Producer 12. Mausam Jha, Content Producer 13. Riya R Alex, Trainee Content Producer
Wait for it…
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.