{"id":160397,"date":"2026-08-13T16:07:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T00:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/13\/todd-blanche-would-like-the-doj-to-know-he-will-lead-with-integrity\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T16:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T00:07:26","slug":"todd-blanche-would-like-the-doj-to-know-he-will-lead-with-integrity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/13\/todd-blanche-would-like-the-doj-to-know-he-will-lead-with-integrity\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd Blanche Would Like The DOJ To Know He Will Lead With Integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Todd Blanche was sworn in as Attorney General of the United States earlier this week \u2014 by Emil Bove, because of course \u2014 and today he addressed the DOJ workforce<\/a> with a message that can be summarized as: ignore everything you have seen with your own eyes for the last 18 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise you that I will lead this department with integrity,\u201d Blanche told the tens of thousands of prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and support staff he now oversees. \u201cI promise you that I will focus on our core mission which is to uphold the rule of law fairly and impartially, to keep this great country safe and to protect the rights of every citizen in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay\u2026 well let\u2019s just recap Blanche\u2019s tenure at the DOJ as the Deputy AG and Acting AG, shall we? Blanche declared it the president\u2019s \u201cright and duty\u201d to direct criminal investigations of his political enemies<\/a>, he introduced himself as Trump\u2019s lawyer at his own confirmation hearing<\/a>, he presided over the departure of 16,000 DOJ employees<\/a> \u2014 including career prosecutors fired for refusing to lie in court<\/a>, is accused by former colleagues of breaking his oath to the Constitution<\/a>, and created a $1.8 billion slush fund<\/a> to compensate Trump allies (which nearly tanked his confirmation<\/a> to the AG post). Integrity!<\/p>\n

There was also this, delivered with apparent sincerity, \u201cWe will always respect the role of the judiciary.\u201d This from a man confirmed in an administration that has talked an unending amount of smack about federal judges<\/a> and watched the threats against judges<\/a> skyrocket. Under Blanche\u2019s leadership, the DOJ has been found to have made arguments federal judges across the political spectrum have described as \u201cpretextual,\u201d \u201cdisingenuous,\u201d and \u201cbad faith.\u201d Blanche added, perhaps anticipating the obvious follow-up, \u201cWe\u2019re not going to be intimidated out of enforcing the law.\u201d Sure. That\u2019s what\u2019s been happening\u2026 intimidation\u2026 by the judges?<\/p>\n

Blanche told his new workforce, \u201cYou make me look good,\u201d that he welcomed disagreements over policy, and promised integrity, impartiality, respect for the judiciary, and fair enforcement of the law. These are, by any measure, the right things to say on your first day. They are also, given everything we have watched this DOJ do for the last 18 months<\/a>, just words. Todd Blanche has made a lot of promises, and, frankly, we know how that tends to go.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Nothing Good Happens After Midnight. The Senate Confirmed Todd Blanche At 4am.<\/a>
The Trump Slush Fund Is Dead. Long Live The Trump Slush Fund.<\/a>
Blanche Pantsed By Trump Rants<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Former SDNY Colleagues Vouched For Him Last Year. They Won\u2019t Make That Mistake Again.<\/a>
Former DOJ Prosecutors To Senate: Blanche Took The Same Oath We Did. But He Didn\u2019t Keep It.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Todd Blanche Would Like The DOJ To Know He Will Lead With Integrity<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Todd Blanche was sworn in as Attorney General of the United States earlier this week \u2014 by Emil Bove, because of course \u2014 and today he addressed the DOJ workforce<\/a> with a message that can be summarized as: ignore everything you have seen with your own eyes for the last 18 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise you that I will lead this department with integrity,\u201d Blanche told the tens of thousands of prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and support staff he now oversees. \u201cI promise you that I will focus on our core mission which is to uphold the rule of law fairly and impartially, to keep this great country safe and to protect the rights of every citizen in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay\u2026 well let\u2019s just recap Blanche\u2019s tenure at the DOJ as the Deputy AG and Acting AG, shall we? Blanche declared it the president\u2019s \u201cright and duty\u201d to direct criminal investigations of his political enemies<\/a>, he introduced himself as Trump\u2019s lawyer at his own confirmation hearing<\/a>, he presided over the departure of 16,000 DOJ employees<\/a> \u2014 including career prosecutors fired for refusing to lie in court<\/a>, is accused by former colleagues of breaking his oath to the Constitution<\/a>, and created a $1.8 billion slush fund<\/a> to compensate Trump allies (which nearly tanked his confirmation<\/a> to the AG post). Integrity!<\/p>\n

There was also this, delivered with apparent sincerity, \u201cWe will always respect the role of the judiciary.\u201d This from a man confirmed in an administration that has talked an unending amount of smack about federal judges<\/a> and watched the threats against judges<\/a> skyrocket. Under Blanche\u2019s leadership, the DOJ has been found to have made arguments federal judges across the political spectrum have described as \u201cpretextual,\u201d \u201cdisingenuous,\u201d and \u201cbad faith.\u201d Blanche added, perhaps anticipating the obvious follow-up, \u201cWe\u2019re not going to be intimidated out of enforcing the law.\u201d Sure. That\u2019s what\u2019s been happening\u2026 intimidation\u2026 by the judges?<\/p>\n

Blanche told his new workforce, \u201cYou make me look good,\u201d that he welcomed disagreements over policy, and promised integrity, impartiality, respect for the judiciary, and fair enforcement of the law. These are, by any measure, the right things to say on your first day. They are also, given everything we have watched this DOJ do for the last 18 months<\/a>, just words. Todd Blanche has made a lot of promises, and, frankly, we know how that tends to go.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Nothing Good Happens After Midnight. The Senate Confirmed Todd Blanche At 4am.<\/a>
The Trump Slush Fund Is Dead. Long Live The Trump Slush Fund.<\/a>
Blanche Pantsed By Trump Rants<\/a>
Todd Blanche\u2019s Former SDNY Colleagues Vouched For Him Last Year. They Won\u2019t Make That Mistake Again.<\/a>
Former DOJ Prosecutors To Senate: Blanche Took The Same Oath We Did. But He Didn\u2019t Keep It.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Todd Blanche Would Like The DOJ To Know He Will Lead With Integrity<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Todd Blanche was sworn in as Attorney General of the United States earlier this week \u2014 by Emil Bove, because of course \u2014 and today he addressed the DOJ workforce with a message that can be summarized as: ignore everything you have seen with your own eyes for the last 18 months. \u201cI promise you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":160398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-mNVM34.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}