Todd Blanche, the former personal lawyer of US President Donald Trump and former deputy attorney general, was sworn in on Monday as the country's new attorney general in a private ceremony in the Oval Office, with Trump in attendance.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt congratulated Blanche in a post on X alongside a short video of the official swearing-in, calling him a great lawyer and an even better person. The video also showed several members of Trump's team, including Vice President JD Vance.
From acting attorney general to confirmed pick
Blanche had been serving as acting attorney general since Pam Bondi was removed from the post in April. Last Friday he led the Washington delegation to the inauguration of Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, a Trump ally.
Born in Denver, Colorado, in 1974, Blanche built his career as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York before becoming a defense attorney in high-profile cases.
Ties to Trump's legal battles
Blanche served as Trump's personal lawyer and led his defense in the New York trial over hush-money payments to former porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. He also sat on Trump's legal team in the federal cases over the handling of classified documents and over attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
As the Justice Department's number two, Blanche was involved in declassifying thousands of files related to the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a matter whose handling cost Bondi her job.
Senate confirmation fight
In May, Blanche announced the creation of a fund of about $1.8 billion to compensate people the Trump administration said were unfairly prosecuted during Joe Biden's presidency, from 2021 to 2025.
That initiative became the biggest obstacle to his confirmation as attorney general in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which recommends nominees for a full Senate vote. Republican senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis blocked his nomination until Blanche scrapped the fund. Democrats, who accuse him of undermining the Justice Department's independence and putting it at the service of Trump's interests, voted almost unanimously against him.
