Blanche Was a Driving Force in Retribution Campaign, Emails Show

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/us/politics/todd-blanche-trump-enemies-emails.html

https://archive.ph/tOfZ7

Blanche Was a Driving Force in Retribution Campaign, Emails Show
The cooperation of Todd Blanche in President Trump’s retribution against enemies will be a flashpoint in his confirmation hearing to be attorney general on Wednesday.
By Glenn Thrush
July 14, 2026 Updated 8:45 a.m. ET

Todd Blanche, then the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, had been on the job only for a couple of months in May 2025, when he was handed a migraine in a Detective Columbo trench coat by the name of Edward J. Martin Jr.

Mr. Martin, a right-wing lawyer who championed the cause of the Jan. 6 rioters, had just been forced out as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The White House then inserted him into Justice Department headquarters, in part to oversee a task force to investigate claims that the Biden administration had targeted President Trump and his allies.

Mr. Blanche, who once led Mr. Trump’s criminal defense team, did not believe that Mr. Martin, a provocateur with minimal prosecutorial experience, had the chops and know-how to do the job, according to current and former officials who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

He moved quickly to rein in Mr. Martin, scheduling a check-in meeting every Friday, according to a trove of internal Justice Department emails obtained by a government watchdog and provided to The New York Times in advance of Mr. Blanche’s confirmation hearing to be attorney general on Wednesday.

Mr. Blanche, a methodical former federal prosecutor, also created an organizational plan for the weaponization group that assigned key investigative lanes to some of his own deputies. That ensured, among other things, that he had tight control over one of the most sensitive issues on his plate — demands from Mr. Trump and his supporters to identify, investigate and punish those who had once pursued them.

...

[kentuck]

1. He knows what Trump wants...

...and is willing to do it without being told.

[Walleye]

2. Blanche: just another Republican pile of turds, pretending to be a man

[Kid Berwyn]

3. Traitor

Lock him up.

[underpants]

4. When Todd Blanche thinks you aren't good at your job...

A very good read thanksis for the archive.

[mdbl]

5. He needs to lose his law license.

[Nevilledog]

6. K & R