Trump nominates ex-personal lawyer Todd Blanche for attorney general

President Donald Trump nominated his former personal defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, to formally become attorney general after weeks in which Blanche as acting attorney general demonstrated a willingness to pursue novel legal strategies and boundary-pushing policies to promote Trump's agenda.

Since becoming acting attorney general in early April, Blanche has overseen a new prosecution from the Justice Department against Trump target James Comey and an attempt by the Justice Department to create an "anti-weaponization fund" that could have paid Trump supporters who were convicted of crimes tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump said at private dinner at the White House Rose Garden June 3 that he planned to nominate Blanche to the position, which oversees the Justice Department. The White House announced the formal pick in a news release June 8, saying Blanche's nomination has now been sent to the Senate, which will decide if Blanche is confirmed to the role.

Leading Democrats voiced opposition to Blanche's nomination June 8, but without several Republicans on their side, they won't be able to vote down Blanche's nomination.

"Todd Blanche is no neutral law enforcement officer. He’s never given up his primary role: Donald Trump’s chief defender in court," Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, who are led by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, posted on social media.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who leads Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was quick to voice support for Blanche, saying in a statement June 8 that Blanche is "well-qualified and has shown his dedication to restoring law and order across our country."

Blanche was Trump's personal defense lawyer in multiple cases, including in the Manhattan criminal trial in which Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Blanche appealed that verdict before Trump appointed him deputy attorney general in 2025.

Blanche said the Justice Department wouldn't move forward with the anti-weaponization fund after facing fierce resistance from members of Congress in both parties, who worried it would use taxpayer dollars to reward Trump's allies, possibly including Jan. 6 rioters.

Blanche has defended the Justice Department's effort under his leadership to get its latest indictment against Comey after a case brought under Trump's first attorney general in his latest administration, Pam Bondi, was dismissed.

The new case, which accuses Comey of threatening to harm or kill President Donald Trump by posting an image on social media of seashells in the shape of "8647," has sparked widespread criticism, including from conservative legal voices.

Comey deleted the post soon after sharing it and said in a new post that he "didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence" and that he took the post down because he opposes "violence of any kind."

Trump specifically called for Comey, a longtime critic of the president, to be criminally charged in a September 2025 social media post. Comey was director of the FBI in the first Trump administration before the president fired him in 2017.

Blanche also has defended the Justice Department seeking charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has angered conservatives in recent years, under his leadership.

That case accuses the center of committing fraud by telling donors it was seeking donations to dismantle extremist groups and then using some of those donations to pay informants in extremist groups. Many legal experts have described those charges as unusual and difficult to prove.

(This story has been updated with additional information.)