Todd Blanche still thinks he’s Trump’s lawyer, which means he can’t be our lawyer

Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general and nominee to be attorney general of the United States, slipped up during his Senate confirmation hearings when asked about his relationship with President Donald Trump.  

“I’m his lawyer. Was his lawyer.”

Oopsies. The attorney general is the lawyer for the United States government — we the people — and his obligation is to the law and the U.S. Constitution, not his former client’s lawless whims.    

We’ve become all too aware of his misplaced priorities and allegiances in Minnesota. More on that in a bit, but let us remember — so much has happened! — Blanche was Trump’s criminal lawyer when the then-ex-president was charged and convicted in the porn star payoff coverup; charged in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election; and charged with stealing classified documents and storing them in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom and other unsecured locations. 

Everyone deserves a criminal defense, but the American people deserve better than Blanche.

Last month, a federal judge in Florida released a scathing order — and referred Blanche to the New York State Bar Association for potential discipline — over the Trump slush fund episode, during which Blanche “negotiated” a deal between Trump, i.e., his boss, and the government, i.e., his client. 

“The Court determines that Plaintiffs improperly employed this lawsuit to justify a particular award in this matter — access to taxpayer funds and exemption from audits and other investigations — which was accomplished by leveraging control over Defendants,” she wrote.

In other words: A sleazy deal. 

In addition to money for cop-beating Jan. 6 insurrectionists, the deal would provide the president with immunity from the IRS. 

Great lawyering for Trump — but less so for us. 

Let’s turn closer to home, because Minnesota has much at stake in the next leader of the Department of Justice. 

Blanche has been attorney general and deputy attorney general as the Department of Justice has failed to bring charges against any of the men responsible for the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis. 

Until last month, DOJ was sitting on evidence in the cases, forcing Minnesota to sue the feds in a shocking departure from the tradition of collaboration on important investigations.

“Without a public commitment by federal authorities to cooperate with the state, it is difficult – if not, impossible – to pursue justice that holds the individuals accountable for Alex’s death,” the Pretti family attorney Steve Schleicher said in a statement.

But at least the DOJ was chasing the, uh, real criminals, like Minnesota elected officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and Mayor Jacob Frey, whose offices were sent wide-ranging subpoenas in an apparent criminal inquiry, which was promptly leaked by the feds in an obvious effort to strongarm the people we elected. 

A federal judge — appointed by President George W. Bush — quashed the subpoenas, with gusto: “Initiating a criminal investigation in order to harass political opponents or to coerce them into taking official action — particularly official action that the federal government cannot directly require those political opponents to take — is a blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand-jury process,” wrote Judge Patrick Schiltz. 

The DOJ has pursued a bevy of similarly fantastical investigations that have illustrated Blanche’s total lack of independence from his former client — and drawn the mockery they deserve: a sandwich thrower, an Olympian pool vandal, the former head of the FBI and – in Minnesota – journalists covering a protest, Renee Good’s wife, and 15 anti-ICE activists not accused of violence beyond kicking a car and knocking an agent’s notes out of his hand. 

In that instance, Schiltz, the same Bush-appointed judge, said he “inferred not every bit of evidence was necessarily gathered pursuant to a warrant.”

This sounds like Blanche’s people cut corners and violated the rights of American citizens. 

Partly in response, the once-esteemed Office of U.S. Attorney in Minnesota has emptied out, as prosecutors have left in disgust at the corrupt direction set by Blanche. 

The DOJ’s open hostility toward Minnesota extends to our institutions, as well. The feds have sued Minnesota and other states for refusing to hand over unredacted voter rolls, which would be a violation of our own state law guarding the privacy of voters.

As ProPublica reported recently, federal judges across the country have called Trump’s Justice Department at various times “unlawful,” “unethical,” “unseemly” or otherwise dishonest. The article quotes a former federal judge, another Bush appointee: “I don’t think in the annals of the Department of Justice, in the history of jurisprudence in the United States, we’ve ever seen anything close to this.”

I suppose it’s fitting that in this administration, this common reprobate is up for a promotion.