Quote · The Daily
From Trump’s Attorney to Attorney General: The Rise of Todd Blanche
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The DOJ Purge: National Security, Public Integrity, and Career Staff
At 19:49 · chapter starts 17:20
The scale of Blanche's early DOJ purge was staggering. The National Security Division — one of the most consequential parts of the entire department — was essentially dismantled. The Public Integrity Unit, which investigates public corruption and formed the core of Jack Smith's team, was reduced from 30 staffers to just 2. [1] — Glenn Thrush "Public Integrity Unit cut from 30 to 2: Under Blanche's leadership, the Public Integrity Unit — the core of Jack Smith's team — was slashed…" 15:44 Thrush makes a pointed observation about what drove this: Blanche hadn't merely adopted Trump's legal arguments about DOJ overreach as a defense strategy. He had absorbed them as genuine conviction. Having spent years arguing that the DOJ was weaponized against Trump, he entered office believing it. The career staff weren't neutral civil servants to be managed — they were, in his view, a 'nest of vipers' to be cleared out. The department's leadership was effectively isolated from the rest of the building, and Blanche had reshaped its character within weeks.
Blanche warned Trump that prosecuting Leticia James and James Comey would likely fail — advice that proved correct but was ultimately ignored.
