Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Biden-era Department of Justice’s investigation into President Donald Trump was so expansive that even Mar-a-Lago staffers, including gardeners and low-level aides, had to retain criminal defense attorneys.
Speaking on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, Blanche explained the scope of the probe and framed it as evidence of a “weaponized” justice system.
“Virtually anybody associated with President Trump had to get a criminal defense attorney,” Blanche said.
“I’m talking about his gardeners at Mar-a-Lago, talking about his Secret Service detail. His Secret Service detail has to go testify in front of the grand jury,” he said. “His assistants, his low-level aides, his senior leadership, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — everybody has to go and get criminal defense attorneys,” he added.
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Blanche previously served as Trump’s lead criminal defense attorney during multiple cases involving the president, including the New York hush money case and legal cases brought by former special counsel Jack Smith.
When directly asked by Hannity whether he believed the Biden-era DOJ weaponized its power, Blanche responded that it was “weaponized in the worst way.” He added that’s why there are so many criminal defense attorneys who got roles in the current administration.
“If you look around the room now in the Oval Office, there’s a bunch of us, a bunch of criminal defense attorneys. That’s because we all had to get involved in the administration because of how weaponized it was,” Blanche said.
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“We’re not talking about targeting one person. ‘Oh, the secretary of defense under President Trump one, we have to look at him.’ No, no, no. If you were a Cabinet secretary, you had to hire a criminal defense attorney because Biden was coming after you,” he added.
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His comments come as the DOJ announced it will not move forward with the nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund. According to the DOJ, the fund was part of a settlement in President Donald J. Trump v. Internal Revenue Service after Trump, his family members and the Trump Organization agreed to forgo monetary damages stemming from the release of their tax returns.
The fund faced legal challenges, and the DOJ announced Monday it would comply with a court ruling temporarily blocking the fund. At a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing Tuesday, Blanche confirmed the administration would not be pursuing the idea further, saying, “We’re not moving forward with the fund, period.”
