President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate Todd Blanche, one of his criminal defense lawyers, to be deputy attorney general.
"Todd is an excellent attorney who will be a crucial leader in the Justice Department, fixing what has been a broken System of Justice for far too long," Trump said in a statement.
The statement noted that Blanche has experience working for the Justice Department — something former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Trump's choice for attorney general, does not have.
"Todd prosecuted gangs and other federal crimes as a Chief in the Southern District of New York United States Attorney’s Office, clerked for two Federal Judges, and graduated with Honors from law school, while working full time at the SDNY," Trump's statement said.
Blanche was Trump's lead lawyer when he stood trial on charges of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment this year. The seven-week trial ended with Trump convicted on all 34 counts.
Trump was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, but Blanche successfully used the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity earlier that month to twice delay the sentencing to give him time to argue that the verdict should be overturned.
State Judge Juan Merchan was set to decide on the issue this week but postponed the decision after a joint request from Trump's lawyers and Manhattan prosecutors in light of Trump's election win, making it unclear whether the sentencing will proceed at all.
Blanche also represented Trump in the federal case in Florida, where he was being prosecuted on charges he improperly kept classified documents after he left the White House and then lied to investigators about it. That case was dismissed over the summer by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who found that special counsel Jack Smith's appointment was illegal.
He also represented Trump in the federal election interference case, which was also brought by Smith. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan granted Smith's request to pause that case, most likely the first step in abandoning those charges following the election results.
If Blanche's nomination is confirmed before Gaetz's, he could serve as acting attorney general while Gaetz goes through the process.
Other members of Trump's legal teams are getting high-profile jobs, as well.
Emil Bove, who assisted Blanche in the hush money case, was announced Thursday as Trump's pick to be principal associate deputy attorney general and would serve as acting deputy attorney while Blanche "is in the process of being confirmed by the Senate," Trump said.
"Emil is a tough and strong attorney, who will be a crucial part of the Justice Department, rooting out corruption and crime. Emil prosecuted terrorists and international drug traffickers as a Chief of the National Security Unit in the Southern District of New York United States Attorney’s Office," Trump's statement said.
He will also nominate D. John Sauer, who argued Trump's successful immunity case before the Supreme Court, for solicitor general.
"John is a deeply accomplished, masterful appellate attorney, who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia in the United States Supreme Court, served as Solicitor General of Missouri for six years, and has extensive experience practicing before the U.S. Supreme Court and other Appellate Courts," Trump said in a statement.
He also praised Sauer's work in the immunity case, which he said "was key to defeating the unConstitutional campaign of Lawfare against me and the entire MAGA Movement."
