By Blessing Nweke
President Donald Trump announced that he will nominate acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to serve permanently as the nation’s top law enforcement official, sending the nomination to the Senate for confirmation.
Trump made the announcement during a private event at the White House on Wednesday evening. In a video posted by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, the president praised Blanche and said he intended to move quickly with the nomination process.
“He’s acting attorney general,” Trump said in the video from the Rose Garden. “Tomorrow I’m instructing Dan and everybody else that’s involved in that very complicated process, which is going to be, I think, very quickly, that we are going to make him permanent attorney general.”
Blanche assumed the role of acting attorney general in April after Trump dismissed former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Before that, Blanche served as deputy attorney general and was widely viewed as a close Trump ally.
A former federal prosecutor, Blanche joined the administration after representing Trump as his personal attorney. He was part of Trump’s legal team in the New York hush money case that resulted in the president’s conviction on 34 felony counts, charges Trump has consistently denied.
During his tenure as acting attorney general, Blanche has overseen several high-profile actions, including the Justice Department’s indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over a social media photo featuring seashells arranged to read “86 47.” Prosecutors argued the image threatened Trump, while Comey denied any such intent.
Blanche also faced scrutiny over a proposed $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” compensation fund for individuals claiming they were unfairly targeted by the federal government. Following bipartisan criticism, Blanche informed lawmakers this week that the proposal would not proceed.
His nomination now heads to the Senate, where he was previously confirmed as deputy attorney general on a 52-46 vote.
Original article
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