WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed off this week on a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for individuals who claim they were unjustly targeted by federal investigations, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from some Republican lawmakers even as it appears to align with President Donald Trump’s priorities.
The fund, totaling $1.776 billion, is intended to provide payouts to people who believe they faced political persecution, along with a guarantee of immunity from tax audits for Trump and his eldest sons. Blanche, who took the acting role last month after Trump removed Pam Bondi, has defended the initiative as open to applicants from any political background.
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky did not mince words in response. “So the nation’s top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — Take your pick,” McConnell said in a statement.
Blanche, a former federal prosecutor in New York who rose to prominence as Trump’s lead defense attorney in the hush money trial, has insisted he is not campaigning for the permanent attorney general position. Yet his recent actions, including the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, have fueled speculation about his ambitions.
Two weeks into his acting tenure, Blanche appointed 81-year-old Joseph diGenova, a former Reagan-era Justice Department prosecutor, to oversee a Florida-based investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired to undermine Trump over the past decade. “At some point, at the right time, that will be made public and the American people will see exactly what happened to this administration and President Trump over the past decade,” Blanche told Fox News.
The Justice Department also secured an indictment against Comey, charging him with threatening Trump via a social media post featuring seashells arranged as “86 47.” Legal experts have noted the case could prove difficult to prosecute. Comey has indicated he would not be surprised by further indictments.
Blanche has additionally announced an indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center for allegedly misleading donors and has defended the department’s use of subpoenas to reporters in leak investigations. These steps come amid ongoing Republican concerns about the direction of the Justice Department under his leadership.
During a tense meeting with GOP lawmakers on Thursday, Blanche sought to address growing unease over the compensation fund. Senate Republicans subsequently departed Washington without voting on a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies.
Critics argue Blanche has blurred the line between his role and Trump’s personal interests. “It’s pretty clear that he’s not the attorney general for the United States as much as he’s the attorney general for President Trump,” said Stephen Saltzburg, a George Washington University law professor and former senior Justice Department official in the 1980s.
David Laufman, who served as chief of staff to the deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration, described Blanche as a “willing and ardent accomplice for carrying out any partisan or corrupt scheme the White House may devise.”
Supporters counter that Blanche is simply pursuing justice. “What he is doing is he is seeking justice based on facts and the law,” said Jay Town, a former U.S. attorney in Alabama under Trump. “And I don’t think that will ever change about him, whether he is the attorney general going forward or doesn’t spend another day in the administration.”
Blanche has told reporters he would be honored by a permanent nomination but holds no strong aspirations. “If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, ‘Thank you very much. I love you, sir,’” he said. “I don’t have any goals or aspirations beyond that.”
During a Senate hearing, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland pressed Blanche directly. “Mr. Attorney General, you are acting today like the president’s personal attorney,” Van Hollen said, “and that’s the whole problem.”
Blanche has noted that the fund was developed through negotiations involving Trump’s private lawyers rather than his own direct involvement. He has also refused to rule out eligibility for some Jan. 6 rioters, a position that has invited additional backlash.
Blanche’s tenure follows a pattern seen with prior Trump-appointed attorneys general, including Jeff Sessions and William Barr, who faced tensions over balancing institutional norms with presidential demands. As the department moves forward with the fund’s implementation, Blanche will appoint five commissioners to process claims, though his exact ongoing role remains unclear.