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WASHINGTON (CN) — President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would nominate Todd Blanche, one of his personal lawyers who handled his criminal cases, to serve as his deputy attorney general.
“Todd is an excellent attorney who will be a crucial leader in the Justice Department, fixing what has been a broken system of justice for far too long,” Trump said in a statement announcing the choice. “Todd prosecuted Ganges and other federal crimes as a chief in the Southern District of New York United States Attorney’s office, clerked for two federal judges and graduated with honors from law school while working full time at the SDNY.”
Blanche, of firm Blanche Law, represented Trump through his election subversion case in Washington, classified documents case in Florida and his criminal hush money trial in Manhattan.
If confirmed, Blanche would replace Lisa Monaco and lead the day-to-day operations of the Justice Department.
Before joining Trump’s legal team, Blanche earned his law degree from the Brooklyn Law School while working as a paralegal in the Southern District of New York.
Upon graduation, he worked as a federal prosecutor in New York and co-chief of its violent crimes unit for nine years, where he prosecuted cases involving public corruption, securities fraud, RICO violations, fraud and other violations.
According to his Blanche Law staff profile, Blanche was a counsel at Washington firm WilmerHale and a partner at Cadwalader Wickersham, also in Washington.
As a defense attorney, Blanche represented Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and successfully got a mortgage fraud case against him dismissed in Manhattan. Blanche argued that case was too similar to another that landed Manafort in federal prison and amounted to double jeopardy.
Trump also announced Emil Bove, who also worked on Trump’s case in Washington, would serve as principal associate deputy attorney general. Bove will serve as acting deputy attorney general until Blanche is confirmed by the Senate.
“Emil is a tough and strong attorney, who will be a crucial part of the Justice Department, rooting out corruption and crime,” Trump said in the statement. “Emil prosecuted terrorists and international drug traffickers as a Chief of the National Security Unit in the Southern District of New York United States Attorney’s Office, clerked for two federal judges and graduated with honors from Georgetown.”
The announcement comes a day after Trump chose Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to serve as his attorney general, a sign that Trump aims to reshape the Justice Department to enact his stated policy goals.
Gaetz, who faces an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he had sex with a minor and used illicit drugs, immediately resigned from his position in Congress following Trump’s announcement.
The committee was reportedly set to release its findings in the coming days and his sudden resignation raised concerns that a final report would remain under lock.
However, lawmakers in Congress including Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Texas Senator John Cornyn, a top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, have called for the release of the report.
Trump also announced Thursday he would nominate John Sauer as solicitor general, the fourth-highest position in the Justice Department responsible for representing cases before the Supreme Court.
Sauer argued Trump’s presidential immunity claims at the Supreme Court in April, which led the high court to grant presidents at least the presumption of immunity for any official act.
“John was the lead counsel representing me in the Supreme Court in Trump v. United States, winning a historic victory on presidential immunity, which was key to defeating the unconstitutional campaign of lawfare against me and the entire MAGA movement,” Trump said in a statement announcing Sauer’s nomination.
The four choices indicate Trump’s plan to fill the Justice Department with loyalists and avoid the divisions he faced with several top officials during his first term, including former attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William Barr.
Thursday’s nominations also show Trump aims to reward those he credits with his successful legal defenses in his criminal cases and his newfound sweeping immunity as president.
In the key part of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, any communications between the president and Justice Department strike at the core of the chief executive’s official duties — meaning Trump can work closer with the federal government’s law enforcement arm than any previous president.
Thursday’s choices are likely to have an easier path toward confirmation in the Republican-led Senate than Gaetz’s, where the GOP recently won a four-seat majority, with 53 Republicans to 47 Democrats.
Neither Blanche nor Bove responded to requests for comment.
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