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MaddowBlog-Acting Attorney General Blanche tries and fails to justify DOJ's personnel purge
The latest firings of four federal prosecutors weren’t the response to an abuse; they were themselves the abuse.
To hear Trump’s DOJ tell it, four federal prosecutors had to be purged because of Biden-era wrongdoing.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-16T21:25:54.788Z
But that’s backwards: The firings weren’t the response to an abuse; they were *themselves* the abuse.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/acting-ag-blanche-tries-and-fails-to-justify-the-justice-departments-personnel-purge
The list of missteps at Donald Trump’s Justice Department during the president’s second term is not short, but among the most unsettling developments is the frequency with which Main Justice has fired federal prosecutors as part of a brazenly partisan purge. Indeed, the full list of prosecutors caught up in the campaign against federal law enforcement because they worked on cases the White House didn’t like has been difficult to keep up with.
The partisan cleansing is ongoing. MS NOW reported this week:
The firings are an extension of the DOJ’s so-called “weaponization” panel, which accused Biden-era prosecutors of targeting those protesting outside abortion clinics in ways that crossed legal lines.....
Asked two weeks later about his response to allegations that Trump’s DOJ has fired people for “political reasons,” Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer, replied, “If you were a prosecutor and you were trying to prosecute your boss, you have ethical duties as a lawyer that I think prevent you from continuing to work in that environment.”
Except, as the acting attorney general ought to understand, that’s a weak argument. For one thing, many of the DOJ officials who have been purged had nothing to do with the criminal charges Trump faced. For another, even those prosecutors who did work on Trump’s cases weren’t trying to prosecute their “boss;” they followed the evidence and helped bring felony charges against a private citizen.
It’s not their fault voters elected a convicted felon to the nation’s highest office.
The partisan cleansing is ongoing. MS NOW reported this week:
At least four Justice Department prosecutors have recently been fired as part of the Trump Administration’s plan to publicly accuse the Biden administration of unfairly targeting anti-abortion protesters for their religious beliefs, according to two people familiar with the firings and a Justice Department spokesperson.
The firings are an extension of the DOJ’s so-called “weaponization” panel, which accused Biden-era prosecutors of targeting those protesting outside abortion clinics in ways that crossed legal lines.....
Asked two weeks later about his response to allegations that Trump’s DOJ has fired people for “political reasons,” Blanche, a former Trump defense lawyer, replied, “If you were a prosecutor and you were trying to prosecute your boss, you have ethical duties as a lawyer that I think prevent you from continuing to work in that environment.”
Q: “How do you respond to critics who say…you guys are firing people for political reasons?â€
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-04-07T18:25:28.838Z
Blanche: “It’s not that. If you were a prosecutor and you were trying to prosecute your boss, you have duties as a lawyer that I think prevent you from continuing to work in that environment."
Except, as the acting attorney general ought to understand, that’s a weak argument. For one thing, many of the DOJ officials who have been purged had nothing to do with the criminal charges Trump faced. For another, even those prosecutors who did work on Trump’s cases weren’t trying to prosecute their “boss;” they followed the evidence and helped bring felony charges against a private citizen.
It’s not their fault voters elected a convicted felon to the nation’s highest office.