Not Only Should Todd Blanche Not Run the Justice Department, He Should Be Charged With the Following Crimes.
In the last 16 months, Todd Blanche seems to have violated at least four federal criminal statutes that can earn him up to 20 years in prison if anyone ever has the courage to prosecute.
Todd Blanche is the acting Attorney General of the United States. What follows is a list of criminal statutes of which there is evidence in the public record and cited via hyperlinked text in this article, that he has committed crimes which should put him in jail for up to five years per willful violation. “Should” being the operative word here. Check the end of this article for more info on the “how” that gets us to that future where justice is more than just a dream.
Let’s begin with the conflict of interest law. That’s 18 U.S.C. § 208, “Acts affecting a personal financial interest”: an executive branch official who “participates personally and substantially... in a... particular matter in which, to his knowledge, he... has a financial interest” is subject to the penalties in § 216.
Blanche legally agreed to comply with it. His ethics agreement: sell the crypto within 90 days of confirmation, and until sold, no participation in any matter with a “direct and predictable effect on my financial interests in the virtual currency.”
What he did instead, ProPublica found: he held $159,000 to $485,000 in crypto and Coinbase stock when, about a month in and before divesting, he issued the memo ending crypto investigations and eliminating the crypto enforcement team. He “divested” afterward by transferring the assets to his adult children and a grandchild. Virginia Canter, an ethics lawyer under four presidents, called it “an obvious conflict of interest.”
The warning he ignored came two weeks in, when the department’s top ethics lawyer directed him to recuse from matters involving Trump personally. He did not. At his first press conference as acting attorney general he told Trump, “I love you, sir.”
The settlement he signed: the department settled Trump’s suit against the IRS with an apology, no claims against Trump, family, or companies, known or unknown, before May 19, 2026, tax returns included, and the $1.776 billion fund. Blanche signed it himself.
18 U.S.C. § 216, “Penalties and injunctions,” is the sentencing provision for conflict of interest violations: non-willful, up to one year. “Whoever willfully engages in the conduct constituting the offense shall be imprisoned for not more than five years.”
18 U.S.C. § 209, “Salary of Government officials and employees payable only by United States,” bars a federal official from taking “any salary, or any contribution to or supplementation of salary, as compensation for his services” from anyone but the government. His disclosure reports $490,000 in partnership payments from his old firm while serving. The Office of Government Ethics has written that post-appointment partnership payouts can violate § 209 if they depart from the firm’s established plan.
18 U.S.C. § 1505, “Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees”: “Whoever corruptly... influences, obstructs, or impedes... the due and proper administration of the law under which any pending proceeding is being had before any department or agency of the United States,” up to five years. The statute’s own definition of “corruptly”: “acting with an improper purpose... including making a false or misleading statement.” Out of the settlement came the fund, and hundreds of January 6 defendants have already filed claims.
He also violated a court order. 18 U.S.C. § 401, “Power of court”: a federal court may punish “disobedience or resistance to its lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command.” The judge ordered a sworn declaration within one week that the fund was dead, and the department did not provide it.
A no vote changes nothing, because of 28 U.S.C. § 508, “Vacancies”: “In case of a vacancy in the office of Attorney General, or of his absence or disability, the Deputy Attorney General may exercise all the duties of that office.” Blanche is the confirmed Deputy Attorney General.
His disclosure lists fifteen clients, the fifteenth withheld because of a pending grand jury proceeding.
An acting Attorney General with this record, facing no investigation from anyone, is what post-coup government looks like: lawlessness for the ruling party, wild corruption. A ruling party that faces no consequences for open corruption has no reason to accept them at elections either. We need to normalize calling for the investigation and prosecution of corrupt officials, and the acting Attorney General is where that starts: he is credibly accused of federal crimes, and anyone with arguably the power to investigate him should. In the last 16 months, Todd Blanche seems to have violated at least four federal criminal statutes that can earn him up to 20 years in prison if anyone ever has the courage to prosecute.
If you want to do something to move the world towards justice you can participate in the call to action below and after that check out our FREE Existentialist Republic Effective Activism Library at the bottom of this page.
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THE CALL TO ACTION
Category: corruption.
Difficulty Rating: 2/10. Ten minutes.
Who you are contacting: your two US senators and your US House representative ((202) 224-3121, senate.gov, house.gov).
The ask: for your representatives to openly on their social media accounts call for criminal investigations into Todd Blanche over the conduct discussed in this article, which you can copy paste to them (desktop is best for this).
For those who want to go the extra activist mile today while having a second cup of coffee, you can contact your state AG (naag.org/find-my-ag) and governor (nga.org/governors) and ask them their stance on federal immunity for criminal violations of state law. If any federal official violates a state crime, will they investigate and prosecute?
If you receive a form letter in response then tell them exactly how you feel about that, no need for professionalism or even being particularly nice.
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Mr. Armitage, thank you for the clarity, precision, factual legal basis, and ethical foundation to all you describe regarding Mr. Blanche’s transgressions. I am always in awe of what you post. So on track. And the action items. Such a service!
Moving forward with this and I hope your wide readership creates exposure to the point this piece contributes to long overdue accountability. Thank you!
HE SHOULD BE DISBARRED AND PROSECUTED.