President-elect Donald Trump might name his lead criminal defense lawyer Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general, CNN and ABC News reported Wednesday.
Blanche represented Trump in the New York hush money case in which he was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. He also was part of Trump’s defense teams in the two federal cases Special Counsel Jack Smith led over Trump’s efforts to undo the 2020 election results and his alleged mishandling of classified documents. Smith is now winding down those cases.
Trump’s possible choice of Blanche would position the lawyer as the No. 2 of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has been tapped by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Both roles require Senate confirmation.
“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
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His pick of Gaetz was met with shock by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Gaetz resigned from his House seat Wednesday, ending an ethics probe into alleged misconduct, including accusations of sex trafficking.
Trump has not addressed the speculation about Blanche. The two, however, have grown close, and the president-elect was expected to give him a role in his administration if he won the election. Blanche has often been spotted with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, and has accompanied him on many of his trips, CNN reported.
Blanche, a former federal prosecutor, was hired to work for Trump in April 2023. Prior to joining his team, Blanche led the defense of Paul Manafort, Trump’s 2016 campaign chair, in his New York mortgage fraud case and also represented Igor Fruman, an associate to Rudy Giuliani, who in 2021 pleaded guilty to soliciting a campaign contribution from a foreign national.
Chinese hackers this year tapped into Blanche’s main cellphone and accessed some of his messages and recorded some phone calls, according to ABC, which was first to report the news last week. The information accessed reportedly was not related to Trump, CNN said.
