FILE PHOTO: U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche gestures as he speaks during a press conference to announce actions regarding a Chinese national marriage fraud scheme, at the Justice Department (DOJ) in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 12, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
Newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche struck an unusually candid note in his first speech to Justice Department staff, telling employees this week that he knows he'll make bad calls as the nation's top law enforcement officer.
"I know that I will not get every decision right. Everything that I do will not be the right path or the right decision," Blanche said in the DOJ's Great Hall. "No one does that, but I do promise you this. I promise you that I will work as hard as any of you."
The address, delivered days after a narrow Senate confirmation, was meant to ease an unnerved workforce bruised by a year of firings, resignations and courtroom setbacks. Blanche pledged to lead with integrity, to uphold the law impartially, to welcome disagreement and to respect the role of the judiciary.
The conciliatory tone drew skepticism from critics who pointed to the gap between his words and the decisions that shaped his path to the job. Blanche, who was Trump's personal criminal defense lawyer before joining the department, has been accused by Democrats of still serving the president's interests, pointing to prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The agency has shed roughly 3,000 attorneys and staff since the start of Trump's second term.
Much of his confirmation fight centered on a nearly $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" he announced in May, created through a settlement resolving a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS. Blanche rescinded it this month to win over Republican holdouts. As deputy attorney general, he also interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell under a limited-immunity deal last year, and the Epstein associate was moved to a minimum-security camp about a week later.