Read a PDF of our statement here.

Today, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 to move the confirmation process for Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General forward to the full Senate for a final vote.

The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) previously issued an opposition report to Blanche's nomination. During his committee hearing, Blanche referred to himself as the President's personal lawyer, breaking decades of precedent requiring the Attorney General to put loyalty to the Constitution over political agendas.

In response, LDF Policy Director Demetria McCain issued the following statement:

"Moving this nomination process forward is wholly irresponsible and a slap in the face to the American public. Todd Blanche is a self-proclaimed puppet of the Trump White House, not the protector of our laws that the Justice Department needs.

"The Attorney General must demonstrate an unequivocal commitment to the principles of equality upon which our multiracial democracy was founded during the civil rights movement, which Blanche has not. The Attorney General must be a highly skilled lawyer of integrity, which Blanche is not. The Attorney General must inspire confidence that they will uphold the laws over political whims, which Blanche does not.

"The full Senate must block this nomination."

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF)is the nation's first civil rights legal organization. LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF's archive. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.