Trump’s Own Lawyers Induce Fear, Faith at Justice Department (1)

Donald Trump’s selection of his personal lawyers for top Justice Department posts is raising alarms about the pressure these two former federal prosecutors may face to do their former client’s bidding by targeting political opponents.

Todd Blanche and Emil Bove—appointed for deputy attorney general and principal associate DAG respectively—were well regarded assistant US attorneys and supervisors in the Southern District of New York, nine alumni of the office said in interviews.

Blanche’s background combatting violent crime and gangs and Bove’s focus on national security—contrasting with Trump’s attorney general pick of Matt Gaetz—make them reassuring choices, most of the SDNY sources said.

Still, the duo’s close ties to Trump are fueling fears among department veterans about how they’ll handle the landmines awaiting them under a new president who’s threatened to use the department to punish enemies.

As the Washington newcomers prepare to overtake day-to-day operations of a sprawling bureaucracy, they’ll need to prove to skeptics that the crucial part of their resume is their previous legal work at DOJ, not the most recent Trump representations.

“I have no reason to doubt the attestations into their personal integrity as prosecutors,” said Rima Sirota, who used to advise and train DOJ lawyers on professional responsibility and is now a professor at Georgetown Law. “I don’t think they would be appointed to the positions that are envisioned for them if they were not going to work on matters of enormous importance to Trump in a way that is favorable to Trump.”

Even as Gaetz’s confirmation battle remains the focus of attention, Blanche, as DOJ’s No. 2, and Bove would wield immense and less publicly visible power overseeing functions of a law enforcement workforce of 115,000. No matter their past department credentials, their recent work on behalf of Trump will force them into early ethical hurdles closely watched by career DOJ staff, former department attorneys said.

One initial signal would be if Blanche and Bove sought the advice of DOJ’s internal ethics office on how to deconflict from ongoing or future cases, such as investigations of Trump associates that would implicate the attorney-client confidentiality they’d still owe Trump as president, said Benjamin Grimes, who until last year was deputy director at the office that issues such advice.

While soliciting that opinion would defuse tensions, Grimes said he’d still expect Trump to override some of their recusals from matters important to him with a waiver, as would be his right as their former client.

For instance, Trump could clear Blanche and Bove of their attorney-client obligations to allow them to wade into decisions on closing investigations into himself or people in his orbit—despite them possibly retaining access to confidential information relevant to those cases from representing Trump, added Grimes, now a Columbia Law School lecturer.

“This might undermine their representation of the United States,” he said, while still exposing the officials to risks of being investigated by DOJ’s professional responsibility office or bar licensing boards.

Representatives for the Trump transition didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

DOJ Independence

Beyond ethics traps, other lawyers—including a few who knew them personally at SDNY—also said they’re uneasy about how Blanche and Bove will fare in protecting DOJ’s traditional independence from the White House, given Trump’s campaign rhetoric of prosecuting foes such as the Biden family, Special Counsel Jack Smith, and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. If Gaetz gets confirmed and a controversial FBI director is installed, that would intensify those fears.

Presidents have historically picked confidants as attorney general, from George Washington’s choice of his personal lawyer as the nation’s first AG to John F. Kennedy tapping his brother.

“Often the hope is that people under them have a more independent relationship to the president and are able to offset to some degree the relationship to the attorney general and the president,” said Bruce Green, director of the Stein Center for Law and Ethics at the Fordham University School of Law. “That’s something that may be difficult here.”

Trump also announced plans to nominate John Sauer, who successfully defended his immunity from federal charges before the Supreme Court, as US solicitor general, which is part of the DOJ. Private lawyers from other Trump cases are also under consideration for department jobs, Bloomberg Law has reported.

Complementing Styles

Defenders of both from their prior tenures in the Southern District—Blanche from 2006 to 2014 and Bove from 2012 to 2019—rejected the notion that they’d bend to pressure from Trump to shatter DOJ norms.

“It makes their life harder because they are so personally entwined with the president,” said Sarah Krissoff, a former prosecutor Blanche once supervised at SDNY. “I think it’s going to be more stressful for them, but I have confidence that both of them are going to chart that course appropriately.”

Blanche rose to co-lead the office’s violent crimes unit and White Plains division, before moving to private practice at WilmerHale and later Cadwalader, while Bove was co-chief of the national security and international narcotics unit, leading high-profile investigations into presidents of Venezuela and Honduras.

Others who overlapped with them at SDNY said Blanche’s gregarious personality and warmth in mentoring colleagues under duress, would complement Bove’s no-nonsense, demanding managerial style. Bove’s reputation for aggressively interviewing dangerous witnesses suggests he won’t buckle to White House demands, three allies said.

Although as mid-level managers they lack the senior pedigrees of predecessors for their new posts, their skill sets may serve them well in Washington, several SDNY alums said. Bove’s position, which unlike Blanche’s won’t require Senate confirmation, can benefit from a tough approach to demand accountability, department veterans said.