Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has tried to tread an ever-narrowing path between his role as a top Justice Department official and the job that got him there in the first place \u2014 as President Trump\u2019s doggedly loyal former lead defense lawyer.<\/p>\n
Allies of Mr. Blanche thought he could achieve two seemingly irreconcilable goals when he was elevated to temporarily replace Pam Bondi after her ouster in April: restoring stability and competence to the department and taking a handful of actions that were sufficiently drastic to convince the boss he was tough enough to make his title permanent.<\/p>\n
So far, however, Mr. Blanche has exhibited few of the modest moderating tendencies he exhibited during more than a year as Ms. Bondi\u2019s top deputy. Under Mr. Blanche, the pace of investigations against Mr. Trump\u2019s perceived enemies has accelerated \u2014 most strikingly, the indictment of the former F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, for posting on social media an image of seashells that prosecutors cast as threatening. Mr. Blanche has used his new perch to boost debunked election conspiracy theories promoted by the president.<\/p>\n
But the moves that most starkly illustrated Mr. Blanche\u2019s evolving approach came this week. In announcing on Monday a $1.8 billion fund that would benefit those who claim they were targeted by the federal government, he effectively forged a pipeline to funnel taxpayer money to Trump allies, among them supporters who ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. \u201cThe machinery of government should never be weaponized against any American, and it is this department\u2019s intention to make right the wrongs that were previously done while ensuring this never happens again,\u201d Mr. Blanche said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It was instantly labeled a \u201cslush fund\u201d by Democrats. The head of one prominent good-government group described the plan as \u201cone of the single most corrupt acts in American history.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Then came a stealthy stunner. The department inserted a supplement to the fund agreement that granted Mr. Trump, his family and their businesses immunity<\/a> from ongoing inquiries into their taxes, an extraordinary move that could shield the president from significant financial liability \u2014 issued under Mr. Blanche\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n By sticking to his single-page playbook of an audience of one, Mr. Blanche has now incurred the wrath of a larger crowd \u2014 Republican senators, who angrily confronted him during a meeting at the Capitol on Thursday that ended with leadership scrapping a major budget vote to protest the proposal.<\/p>\n Mr. Blanche now finds himself in the crossfire between Mr. Trump and Republican incumbents who are increasingly alarmed by his willingness to place his own political agenda and personal interests over preserving his party\u2019s imperiled hold on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n \u201cSomebody described it as a galactic blunder, and I think that\u2019s probably true,\u201d Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, said of the deal after emerging from the meeting.<\/p>\n But while Mr. Blanche\u2019s name is on the documents, and he has defended the actions as lawful and necessary, his precise role in formulating these policies remains unclear.<\/p>\n During an interview with CNN on Wednesday, he suggested that Mr. Trump\u2019s \u201coutside counsel\u201d and department lawyers, but \u201cnot me,\u201d had been involved in drafting the settlement, including the provision shielding the president from I.R.S. scrutiny.<\/p>\n The fund proposal has been under broad consideration for months, although not necessarily linked to the I.R.S. case. Some far-right Trump supporters, including the department\u2019s pardon attorney, Ed Martin, have been pushing the idea of providing compensation for legal bills and other expenses, according to current and former officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.<\/p>\n It remains unclear if the fund, which is likely to draw a rush of applications, can withstand legal and political challenges.<\/p>\n Mr. Blanche and his team have provided few details about its operation. Most importantly, it is unclear how they would define weaponization when many of those targeted for investigation were either involved in potential offenses, had evidence needed to pursue legitimate inquiries or were convicted by juries and judges for crimes that were exhaustively documented by witnesses and visual evidence.<\/p>\n During an appearance before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday, Mr. Blanche would not commit<\/a> to narrowing the criteria for applicants to exclude people who had violently attacked law enforcement, Mr. Trump\u2019s political donors or even those who had committed crimes after being pardoned.<\/p>\n He said he would appoint five commissioners who would make all the major decisions, that Mr. Trump would have authority to fire them, vowed to appoint one member after consulting Congress \u2014 but refused to commit to including even a single Democrat.<\/p>\n Updated\u00a0<\/p>\n May 21, 2026, 2:52 p.m. ET<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Mr. Blanche tweaked his answer about criteria, telling CNN<\/a> that the commissioners would take applicants\u2019 conduct into account when evaluating their claims. <\/p>\n The department\u2019s outline of the fund was vague enough to elicit negative comments on Tuesday from some senior Republicans, including Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, who said he was \u201cnot a big fan of the idea.\u201d<\/p>\n He might have good reason. Republicans, who often hammer Democrats for permissive attitudes toward criminals, will now be tied to a policy that goes beyond lenience to the lining of pockets. Former prosecutors recoiled at the prospect of the government rewarding those it had convicted of crimes, rewriting history and undermining the rule of law.<\/p>\n \u201cJust because we are going to compensate people who believe in the Tooth Fairy doesn\u2019t mean that there is a Tooth Fairy,\u201d said Leo Wise, who successfully prosecuted former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.\u2019s son Hunter Biden, who Vice President JD Vance suggested would also be eligible.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is all based on a lie,\u201d he added. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t weaponization. It is a false premise.\u201d<\/p>\n (Mr. Biden has said he will not apply to the fund.)<\/p>\n Thus far, Mr. Blanche has not found any of Mr. Trump\u2019s directives or requests sufficiently objectionable to offer his public defiance or resignation, as William P. Barr, an attorney general in Mr. Trump\u2019s first term, did to protest the president\u2019s effort to overturn the 2020 election.<\/p>\n But Mr. Blanche has earned a reputation within the department as among the most conventional of Mr. Trump\u2019s political appointees, at times seeking to counter moves, including some pushed by the White House, that he viewed as being unsupported by evidence or the law.<\/p>\n The most notable example came last fall, when Mr. Blanche told White House officials that there was not enough evidence to indict Letitia James, the New York attorney general, on mortgage-related charges in Virginia. He was overruled. He also opposed the hasty appointment of Lindsey Halligan<\/a> to lead the prosecutions of Ms. James and Mr. Comey. A judge later ruled she had been illegally appointed and threw out both cases.<\/p>\n