The Leadership Conference Strongly Opposes Todd Blanche for Attorney General

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [email protected] 

WASHINGTON — Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement:

“Today, President Trump announced his intent to nominate his former personal defense attorney, Todd Blanche to be U.S. Attorney General of the United States – a job he has proven himself to be untrustworthy to hold. The Leadership Conference strongly opposes this nomination.

As Deputy Attorney General and Acting Attorney General, Blanche bears responsibility for the Justice Department’s transformation into a protector of the President’s personal and political interests, rather than the people’s protector through the neutrality of prosecutorial powers. He bears responsibility for the Justice Department’s transformation into an instrument of Trump’s personal rage and revenge, it’s lack of transparency on sex trafficking related to Jeffrey Epstein, and has turned the Department into a defender of civil rights’ violators, while focusing prosecutions on organizations and individuals who have worked for civil rights, against hate and extremism, and who hold the government accountable to our laws.

At his hearing to be Deputy Attorney General, he refused to commit to recusing himself from matters involving the very prosecutions he had defended Trump against. And in the months since becoming Acting Attorney General, he and his Department have taken action after action that show their work is based on retaliation and political bias, including moving to vacate the convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders, indicting the Southern Poverty Law Center, and installing a Trump surrogate to run the investigation of a Trump political adversary. He has also taken numerous disgraceful actions to retaliate against those trying to protect the public, like firing career prosecutors who tell the truth in court, immigration judges who refuse to rubber-stamp this administration’s policy positions, and the Justice Department’s pardon attorney for refusing a political favor.

The role of the Attorney General is not to protect the interests of the President, but to protect the interests of the nation’s people. Blanche is not an independent law enforcement official. His record, as Deputy and as Acting Attorney General, disqualifies him from Senate confirmation and the Leadership Conference condemns this nomination.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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