President Donald Trump said Wednesday at a White House dinner that he plans to formally nominate Todd Blanche to serve as attorney general on Thursday.
Blanche is serving as acting attorney general after being brought into the Justice Department as deputy attorney general; he previously served as the president's personal lawyer and has aggressively pursued the president's agenda while leading the department in an acting role.
Trump declared, "We are going to make him permanent attorney general," at a Rose Garden event as Blanche sought to position himself as the favorite for the permanent job following Pam Bondi's firing in April.
Blanche accelerated investigations into Trump foes and announced a proposed $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund," a nearly $1.8 billion plan that prompted a bipartisan firestorm and that the Justice Department scrapped earlier this week.
Democrats and other critics have said Blanche has acted like the president's personal lawyer to carry out what they described as a campaign of retribution, and the fund drew backlash from Republicans in the Senate whose support Blanche will now need for confirmation.
The Justice Department under Blanche has advanced prosecutions of longtime Trump foes; former FBI Director James Comey was indicted in April over a social media photo of seashells, and Comey said he would not be surprised if the department pursues additional indictments against him.
Blanche appointed Joseph diGenova, an 81-year-old former Justice Department prosecutor, to oversee a Florida-based investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired over the last decade to undermine the president, and Blanche said Tuesday that the department would not move forward with the fund after political blowback stalled related legislation.
A former federal prosecutor in New York, Blanche came to public prominence for his lead role on the president's defense team, including during the hush money trial in New York, and he said his experience gave him a firsthand look at what he contends was the weaponization of the criminal justice system.