President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate Todd Blanche, one of his criminal defense attorneys, as deputy attorney general.
“Todd is an outstanding attorney who will be a critical leader at the Department of Justice, fixing what has been a broken justice system for far too long,” Trump said in a statement.
The statement noted that Blanche has experience working for the Justice Department — something former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Trump’s pick for attorney general, does not have.
“Todd prosecuted gang and other federal crimes as head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, clerked for two federal judges, and graduated from law school with honors while working full-time at the SDNY,” Trump’s statement said .
Blanche was Trump’s lead lawyer when he went on trial on charges of falsifying company records in connection with a hush-money payment this year. The seven-week trial ended with Trump being convicted on all 34 counts.
Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, but Blanche successfully used the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision earlier that month to delay sentencing twice so he had time to argue that the judgment should be quashed.
State Judge Juan Merchan was scheduled to rule on the issue this week, but postponed the decision after a joint request from Trump’s lawyers and Manhattan prosecutors in light of Trump’s election win, making it unclear whether the sentencing will proceed at all.
Blanche also represented Trump in the federal case in Florida, where he was prosecuted on charges that he improperly retained classified documents after leaving the White House and then lied about them to investigators. That case was dismissed this summer by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unlawful.
He also represented Trump in the federal election interference case, which was also brought by Smith. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Smith’s request to pause the case, which was most likely the first step toward dropping these charges after the election results.
If Blanche’s appointment is confirmed before Gaetz’s, he could serve as acting attorney general while Gaetz goes through the process.
Other members of Trump’s legal teams are also getting high-profile jobs.
Emil Bove, who represented Blanche in the hush money case, was announced Thursday as Trump’s pick to become chief deputy attorney general and serve as acting deputy attorney while Blanche is “in the process of being confirmed by the Senate.” , Trump said.
“Emil is a tough and strong lawyer who will be a critical part of the Justice Department’s efforts to root out corruption and crime. Emil prosecuted terrorists and international drug traffickers as head of the National Security Unit in the Southern District of New York, United States Attorney’s Office,” Trump’s statement said.
He will also nominate D. John Sauer, who argued Trump’s successful immunity case before the Supreme Court, as attorney general.
“John is a highly talented, masterful appellate attorney who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court, served as Solicitor General of Missouri for six years, and has extensive experience practicing law before the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts by profession.” Trump said in a statement.
He also praised Sauer’s work in the immunity case, which he said was “key to defeating Lawfare’s unconstitutional campaign against me and the entire MAGA movement.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
