If Todd Blanche Becomes Deputy AG, He Should Steer Clear of Trump's Legal Matters, Experts Say

Todd Blanche — Trump’s pick to be the deputy attorney general who also was the face of Trump’s defense team for the past year — faces an uneasy balancing act, particularly given the president-elect’s stated desire to seek retribution against his investigators and political foes. Legal experts say that Blanche should recuse himself from anything related at the Justice Department that might touch on Trump’s cases, as reported by Mark Berman for the Washington Post. The deputy attorney general is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations at the Justice Department, a sprawling agency with more than 115,000 employees that bills itself as “the world’s largest law office.” Within that office's operations could be retaliatory actions: Trump has suggested that special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the two federal cases, should be thrown out of the country. Trump also said that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), who brought the New York case, should be prosecuted.

Blanche should touch none of that, experts say. Recusal is “an obvious call,” said Eli Wald, a law professor at the University of Denver who specializes in legal ethics. To do otherwise would create a clear “appearance of impropriety.” Ethics expert Stephen Gillers said if he were advising Blanche, he would suggest that he stop representing Trump once he is formally nominated as deputy attorney general, presuming the New York case remains active at that point. “It looks bad when you’re representing the president while you’re awaiting confirmation for DOJ deputy,” said Gillers, a law professor emeritus at New York University. Still, “the clear dividing line is the moment he’s sworn in,” Gillers said. Then, he said, “his client will change. His client will be the United States, and only the United States.” The recusal issue extends beyond Blanche, given that Trump also picked two of his other attorneys — Emil Bove and D. John Sauer — for principal associate deputy attorney general and solicitor general, respectively. Those are also top Justice Department roles.