More than 1,200 former Department of Justice (DOJ) employees have urged the Senate to reject the nomination of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as permanent U.S. Attorney General.
In a letter sent to Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL), the former employees wrote, “In the coming weeks, many will rightly underscore the corruption and abuses that have defined the Justice Department under Todd Blanche’s leadership: the vindictive prosecutions and investigations of the President’s foes; the deals designed to reward lawbreakers with taxpayer dollars; the erasure of accountability for January 6; the mishandling of the Epstein files; and the denigration of judges and repeated violations of their orders.”
“But we want to focus on an area that deserves just as much attention: Todd Blanche’s degradation of DOJ’s apolitical career workforce.”
“Blanche has fired or overseen the firings of hundreds of these employees – usually without notice, and for improper, unlawful reasons. Some were terminated for having worked on cases the President didn’t like; for being relatives of the President’s foes; for adjudicating immigration cases in accordance with due process; for declining to initiate vindictive prosecutions; or for refusing to lie in court. These terminations violate the very civil service statutes designed to prevent corruption and political purges,” the letter adds.
It claims that Blanche has instilled a “culture of fear” within the DOJ. “Respect for career professionals must return. Would-be job applicants need to believe the Justice Department lives up to the virtue in its name,” they wrote. “And instead of exhibiting fealty to the president, the Attorney General must heed John Adams’ admonition that our republic remains a ‘government of laws, not of men.’”
Meanwhile, the Western States Sheriffs’ Association has formally endorsed Blanche for attorney general, urging the Senate to confirm Trump’s nominee before the end of summer. The association represents sheriffs and their command staff across 19 western states, stretching from Missouri to Washington.
