LDF Strongly Condemns Senate Confirmation of Todd Blanche for U.S. Attorney General
Read a PDF of our statement here.
Today, the U.S. Senate voted 50 – 49 to confirm Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General. The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) previously issued an opposition report to Blanche’s nomination. In his short time at the Justice Department, Blanche has continued the practice of weaponizing the Department of Justice to undermine voting rights and our electoral process (attacking mail-in voting, supporting legislation encouraging voter suppression, and eliminating disparate impact guidelines), attempted to create a $1.8 billion slush fund for political allies out of taxpayer dollars, severely mishandled the release of the Epstein files, and mistakenly prosecuted a former U.S. Olympian on false charges of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool.
During his committee hearing, Blanche referred to himself as the President’s personal
lawyer, breaking decades of precedent requiring the Attorney General to put loyalty to the Constitution over political agendas.
In response, Todd A. Cox, Associate Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund issued the following statement:
“Todd Blanche is a self-proclaimed sycophant of President Donald Trump. The U.S.
Attorney General must be dedicated to enforcing the nation’s civil rights and equal protection under the law, something Todd Blanche is woefully unprepared and unqualified to do.
“The role of our nation’s top law enforcement officer must be to seek justice, not to act for or at the direction of the president and use the power of the Department of Justice to undermine our civil rights. Given this, to think Todd Blanche capable of overseeing an unbiased enforcement of our nation’s laws in light of his blatant allegiance to the president over the Constitution is folly. By voting to confirm, the Senate has doomed the Justice Department to leadership incapable and undeserving of public trust.
“Today is a shameful day for the rule of law.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights legal
organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership
of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is
a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF’s archive. In all media
attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and
refer to the Institute as LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.