By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s criminal defense attorney and nominee for deputy attorney general, on Wednesday dodged questions from lawmakers about whether he will recuse himself from a Justice Department inquiry into the handling of federal and state criminal prosecutions of Trump.
Blanche, who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, told Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California that he couldn’t say for sure whether he will be recused from presiding over a new “weaponization working group” launched last week by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The working group, which would be supported by the office he’s nominated to lead, is tasked with reviewing two criminal cases brought against Trump by former Special Counsel Jack Smith, for retaining classified documents and trying to subvert the 2020 presidential election, as well as Trump’s conviction in New York on falsifying records to hide hush-money payments to a porn star.
Blanche served as Trump’s defense counsel in all three cases.
“Isn’t it a clear conflict of interest? You represented him in these cases” Schiff said to Blanche. “How could you possibly oversee an investigation or review of the prosecutors in these cases when you handled them?”
“I don’t know what the work is,” Blanche responded. “There will be conflicts, and I will not violate my ethical obligations,” he said, adding that he will consult the department’s career ethics officials on such decisions.
Trump and his appointees have taken steps to fire or remove ethics officials from offices throughout the federal government.
Earlier this week, Trump fired the head of the Office of Government Ethics. Previously, the Justice Department’s acting leadership reassigned the department’s career ethics official to a new sanctuary cities working group dealing with immigration issues.
Blanche’s former law partner, Emil Bove, a fellow Trump defense attorney who will serve as his top deputy if Blanche is confirmed, has also presided over the firings of prosecutors and FBI personnel who were involved in investigations into the attack by Trump’s supporters on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Blanche told lawmakers on Wednesday he will not pursue politically-motivated prosecutions if confirmed.
“Political prosecutions should never happen,” he said.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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