Speaker
Glenn Thrush
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Blanche oversaw creation of a controversial $1.8 billion fund to compensate purported victims of Biden and Obama-era DOJ overreach, angering Senate Republicans.
It only takes one Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote against Blanche to kill the nomination by boxing it in committee.
Under Blanche's leadership, the Public Integrity Unit — the core of Jack Smith's team — was slashed from 30 staffers to just two.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg indicted Donald Trump on 34 counts in the hush money case involving Stormy Daniels, which Blanche defended.
Over his law firm's objections, Blanche left a prestigious white-shoe firm to start his own firm and represent Trump after the 2020 election loss — when Trump looked like a losing cause.
Under Blanche's early tenure, the DOJ's National Security Division — one of the department's most important units — was essentially dismantled.
Blanche warned Trump that prosecuting Leticia James and James Comey would likely fail — advice that proved correct but was ultimately ignored.
During his representation of Trump, Blanche switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party and relocated to Florida, near Mar-a-Lago.
Blanche signed a deal granting immunity to Donald Trump and his family for tax investigations — a major sticking point for Senator John Cornyn.
Glenn Thrush stated that the Department of Justice has less autonomy and independence than at any point in its history under the Trump-Blanche arrangement.
Under current law, Blanche can remain as acting attorney general indefinitely until Trump leaves office even if not confirmed by the Senate.
Blanche oversaw the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to compensate purported victims of Biden and Obama-era DOJ overreach — and Senate Republicans called him in and grilled him for an hour, calling it totally unacceptable. This is the backdrop to his confirmation hearing, where the outcome is genuinely uncertain.
One Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is all it takes to kill Blanche's nomination in committee. Senator John Cornyn — ousted from his primary partly due to Trump — has refused to commit to supporting Blanche, and the IRS immunity deal for Trump's family is the sticking point. The math is tight.
What Blanche did to win Trump's trust — the $1.8 billion fund, the IRS immunity deal, the wholesale purge of DOJ career staff — may be the very thing that prevents Senate Republicans from confirming him. Even Trump's own senators still expect the DOJ to be a bulwark for rule of law.
Under the law, Blanche can remain acting attorney general indefinitely even without Senate confirmation. But confirmation matters deeply — to Blanche personally and to Trump, who views Senate approval as a stamp of legitimacy for the power he considers central to his presidency.
Newly obtained emails show Blanche reining in Ed Martin, the White House's anti-weaponization working group leader, for publicly discussing grand jury testimony and violating DOJ rules. Blanche eventually sidelined Martin — his strongest argument that he exercised a genuine moderating influence.
The first weeks of Blanche's DOJ tenure were a 'torrent' of firings. The National Security Division was dismantled. The Public Integrity Unit went from 30 staffers to 2. Blanche had so deeply internalized Trump's 'witch hunt' narrative that he had little sympathy for the people he was firing.
Blanche and Pam Bondi reportedly briefed Trump on precisely how many times and in what context he was mentioned in the Jeffrey Epstein files — a deeply ambiguous role that is likely to generate sharp questions at the confirmation hearing.
Blanche occupied an almost impossible middle position — fielding demands from the White House and MAGA allies to go after Trump's enemies, while also trying to filter out what was legally hopeless. He was simultaneously Trump's enforcer and his last line of defense against unwinnable cases.
Blanche was a 'vanilla federal prosecutor' from the Southern District of New York who cashed out into a white-shoe firm in 2017. Boris Epshteyn pulled him into the Trump orbit through the Paul Manafort defense — and that cameo changed everything.
In the hush money trial, Blanche cross-examined Michael Cohen with relentless aggression — calling him a flat-out liar and reminding the jury Cohen had once called Trump a dictator who 'belonged in a cage like an animal.' Trump didn't win the case, but Blanche's fight deeply impressed him.
After Trump lost in 2020, Blanche had every reason to walk away. Instead, he defied his firm's leadership, started his own firm, and threw in his lot with Trump at Trump's lowest ebb. That loyalty became the foundation of everything that followed.
Blanche's strategy for Trump's federal cases was almost comically simple: delay. File brief after brief, run the clock toward the 2024 election, write legal documents like campaign social media posts. It doesn't seem sophisticated — but it worked. The cases were ultimately thrown out.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Government 84%
- Business 8%
- True Crime 8%
Connections
Shows they appear on and people they share episodes with. Drag to explore.
