Early Saturday morning, Todd Blanche was confirmed as attorney general by the United States Senate in a 50-49 vote. Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joined all Senate Democrats in opposing the nomination. All other Republicans, including Senators Barrasso and Lummis, voted in Blanche’s favor. The victory for Blanche and President Trump is a repudiation of sorts for 71 retired Wyoming judges, former attorneys general and active and retired lawyers who publicized their objections to Blanche in a joint press release and letter to Barrasso and Lummis.
The coterie of Wyoming jurists and lawyers assailed Blanche’s integrity, judgment and fitness for office for the purpose of pressuring Wyoming’s congressional delegation. Where were these same judges and lawyers when Joe Biden and his supplicant attorney general weaponized the Justice Department to target pro-life protesters, parents at school board meetings, Catholics and Donald Trump? They were silent and presumably unbothered.
Blanche was a federal prosecutor in New York and co-chief of the violent crime division. He later was a criminal defense attorney who represented Trump in the criminal cases brought against him in 2023 and 2024. As attorney general, Blanche’s priorities include dismantling transnational drug organizations, combating violent crime, protecting American taxpayers from fraud and countering the weaponization of the Justice Department. Fair-minded Wyoming judges and lawyers would hope for his success.
Publicly wading into political controversy by large collections of retired Wyoming judges and active and retired lawyers is a recent development. There was a time not long ago when such action was considered inappropriate. Standards of conduct are changing.