Emails Show Todd Blanche Drove Justice Department Retribution Campaign Before July 16 Hearing
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 14
Emails Show Todd Blanche Drove Justice Department Retribution Campaign Before July 16 Hearing
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 14
Summary
Internal Justice Department emails show Todd Blanche, then the department’s No. 2 official, quickly took charge of a task force examining claims that the Biden administration had targeted Trump and his allies.
May 2025 messages show Blanche grew frustrated with Edward J. Martin Jr. within weeks, then imposed weekly Friday check-ins after the White House moved Martin into headquarters to help oversee the effort.
Blanche also drafted an organizational plan that handed key investigative lanes to his own deputies, tightening his control over a politically sensitive “weaponization” group.
The emails surfaced through a government watchdog ahead of Blanche’s July 16 confirmation hearing to become attorney general, sharpening scrutiny of how the department handled Trump allies’ demands for payback.