This morning, Todd Blanche’s Attorney General nomination advanced out of the Judiciary Committee, after holdouts John Cornyn and Thom Tillis ultimately capitulated to Trump and voted to confirm Blanche.
Stacey Young joined Tim to discuss the Trump Administration’s tangible impacts on the Department of Justice’s integrity. She pointed out that the DOJ’s institutional independence, qualified workforce, and commitment to public service at the have suffered, first under Pam Bondi, and now under Todd Blanche. Young underscored that Todd Blanche’s personal loyalty to Trump makes him utterly unqualified to represent the United States.
Stacey Young is the Founder and Executive Director of Justice Connection. She served for 18 years as a senior attorney at the Department of Justice, first in the Civil Division and later in the Civil Rights Division. Young founded the DOJ Gender Equality Network in 2016 and served as its president until the Trump administration pushed for its closure in 2025.
The following transcript has been edited for formatting purposes.
Tim Dickinson
Hi, this is Tim Dickinson for The Contrarian. Our guest today is Stacey Young, the Executive Director at Justice Connection. Stacey had a long career at the DOJ, and her organization now supports current and former DOJ personnel who are under attack from the Trump administration. Stacey, welcome back to The Contrarian.
Stacey Young
Thanks so much for having me.
Tim Dickinson
Well, the big news today is that Todd Blanche has just cleared the Judiciary Committee, and seems to be on a glide path for confirmation now as Attorney General. What are your thoughts as this is unfolding?
Stacey Young
Yeah, I’m not pleased with today’s outcome. You know, I can’t say I’m terribly surprised. A couple senators demanded some accommodations. I don’t think Todd Blanche met them in any meaningful way. But, here we are. You know, frankly, after the destruction of the department we’ve seen over the last year, I think it’s fair to say that a vote for Todd Blanche is a vote against the rule of law, and I really hope that there are enough senators who recognize that the path we’re on is extremely dangerous. DOJ is a pivotal institution when you’re talking about the rule of law, and the foundation of our democracy. And the shenanigans there we’ve seen, the corruption, the abuses. are unprecedented, and I fear that they’re only going to accelerate if Todd Blanch, has even more authority, gets the imprimatur of, you know, another branch of government.
Tim Dickinson
I was just reading a Contrarian piece that you wrote about Pam Bondi’s tenure, and it feels like we’re really going out of the frying pan and into the fire here with Todd Blanch. What does his conf… you know, likely confirmation mean for the independence and integrity of the DOJ?
Stacey Young
Well, it means that our Congress, that our Senate, doesn’t really value it. We know what’s happened to DOJ. It’s been well documented. We speak out about it every single day. Many employees who’ve left the department have spoken out loudly about… the abuses that are happening at the department, and it’s… it’s awful. One thing we focus on in particular is the fact that almost 20,000 DOJ employees have been purged under this administration. That is… an unbelievable loss of institutional knowledge and expertise that you can’t just get back by hiring new people. And to that point, DOJ is having a really hard time hiring new people. It’s the kind of thing that, you know, it’s going to be, really generational harm. And when you lose the best people in the department, about a third of the lawyers have left at this point. When you lose that kind of talent, you know, what that means is our country is not as safe anymore. We’re not as prepared to deal with terrorist threats. Our rights are less protected, our environment is less protected, our economy is less protected. Unfortunately, I think our elections are going to be less secure in the fall, so… You know, the effects of what we’ve seen are going to have real-world, tangible consequences that we’re all going to feel, and the Senate is not exercising the oversight responsibility it has, and we really encourage everyone to contact their senator right now. And let them know that this guy cannot get the permanent job.
Tim Dickinson
When we talk about his disqualifying characteristics, I think top of mind is just this general orientation where he is a lapdog to the president, as opposed to a public servant serving the Constitution. Can you talk about where we see that most clearly in Todd Blanche?
Stacey Young
I mean, you see it clearly in so many respects, but if I were to pick the most obvious one, it’s the vindictive prosecutions. Todd Blanche was a career prosecutor at the Department of Justice for years. He knows that it’s unconstitutional to prosecute individuals for vindictive reasons. There is very clear case law on this. And I don’t think that people like Letitia James and James Comey, and many others at this point, have been prosecuted because Todd Blanche has a beef with them. It’s because Donald Trump has a beef with them. And Donald Trump is directing the department’s activities, including prosecutions. And when that happens, the rule of law doesn’t mean much. When the rule of law is enforced in a way that pleases one person who sits in the White House. That means we’re all in trouble. That means any of us could be the next target. So I think that’s the most glaring way in which Todd Blanche’s allegiance is to the president and not to the American people.
Tim Dickinson
We’ve seen this just recently in the sort of silly case of the… I mean, it’s sort of the most alarming case in some ways, too, the idea that this Olympic canoeist was being… you know, hit with a felony charge for touching the water at the reflecting pool, based on the absurd claim that the president made that this had been vandalized, and that here we had, you know, the weight of the federal government coming down on one individual to… essentially please the president and prove his lie. And I find this ironic in the context of Blanche’s other major scandal, which is this weaponization fund, right? This idea that, like, he’s actively overseeing weaponization of the government, while at the same time trying to create this slush fund that would reimburse Trump’s favored people. Can you talk about that just a bit?
Stacey Young
Yeah, I mean, with respect to the reflecting pool, it reflects, no pun intended. Just the… just the… the crystallized example of… Of the department not representing the people, and I know I keep saying this, but, you know, when I was a DOJ lawyer, and this was an honor to do, you stand up in court and you say, you know, I’m Stacey Young, on behalf of the United States. And every DOJ lawyer, every DOJ employee knows that. You represent the United States. You take these jobs, which pay a lot less than what you could be making in the private sector, because you want to do public service, because you want to represent the United States. Todd Blanche could not stand up in court and say, I represent the United States without lying. There is no reason to go after somebody who touches the reflecting pool and prosecute them under a pretty harsh criminal law, one that could have resulted in a 10-year prison sentence, unless you’re trying to please somebody, and of course, in this case, it was the president. And we’ve seen example after example after example after example of this, in terms of vindictive prosecutions, in terms of the way Todd Blanche, you know, hid Epstein files and continues to do that in terms of how Todd Blanche has fired career employees because they worked on cases this president doesn’t like. You know, the… I could go on and on and on about how all of the abuses have eroded the integrity of the department, but really, they all… are the result of the president… of Todd Blanche trying to please the president. That’s really the root cause of everything we’ve seen.
Tim Dickinson
And you brought up the Epstein files, which I think is very important that we’re not sort of moving past that quickly, because here is a case where the president has skin in the game. His name is in the Epstein file, so he denies that the accounts in there are accurate. And yet, you know, Todd Blanche has been involved in slow-walking the release of these files, and the incomplete release, the sloppy release of victims’ names and information. Survivors’ names and information. Can you talk about the Epstein files as a lens for why this is not a person who can be trusted with the weight of this job?
Stacey Young
Yeah, I mean, there were promises made early on that the files were going to be released. I mean, there are legitimate questions about whether these files should be released. It’s very unusual to release FBI files, ever. But there were promises made to release them. They did not follow through on those promises, so Congress stepped in and passed a law that very clearly required the department to release the files with very narrow exceptions, and Todd Blanche, who Pam Bondi said outright, was overseeing the entire operation, did not release the files. And it seems like files concerning, you know, very powerful individuals in particular were withheld. And not only that, but files with survivors’ personally identifiable information were revealed, which re-victimized them. And there are laws on the books that protect, sexual assault survivors, and they violated those laws, and they didn’t seem to show much contrition for doing so. When Todd Blanche finally agreed to meet with survivors, only because he obviously wanted to check the box that Senator Tillis imposed. He met with those survivors. The survivor said he was extremely dismissive and rude, and said things like, you know, get to the point. You know, I think the fact that this guy doesn’t seem to have any empathy or concern for crime victims is alone disqualifying. So, you know, I mean, I could talk for hours and hours and hours, and I’m sure you’d love for me to do so, about everything he has been responsible for that should disqualify him from a promotion, but, you know, the Epstein Files is a really important one.
Tim Dickinson
The… lack of… professional conduct of the higher-ups at DOJ has led to a loss of the presumption of regularity in court. It’s a kind of a technical idea, but I think it really goes to the point of the damage that’s being done to this institution that we all depend on. It’s working cleanly within the broader system of justice. And so, can you talk just a bit about what that means and what the impact of that is?
Stacey Young
So the presumption of regularity is not, you know, in any way codified. It was… a presumption. But it was built up over decades where government lawyers, DOJ lawyers, would go to court, and judges, over time realized that these are people we can trust. You know, they don’t personally… have much at stake, like private lawyers, you know, have financial incentives to win their cases. They came to realize that DOJ lawyers in particular could be trusted in court. And that, there should be a presumption that the government is operating in the way it should, that it’s being honest, that is, that it’s adhering to its duty of candor. And it was, you know, I think well-earned over decades. When I, you know, handled litigation in federal courts, I knew that judges would trust what I had to say. And I knew that they should, because I had no reason to lie, not that I would lie in any context, but… I didn’t lie, my coworkers didn’t lie, our clients didn’t lie, and that presumption is gone. Courts, judges throughout the country have made it clear that they cannot trust what DOJ lawyers say anymore. And it’s mostly, you know, political appointees who they can’t trust, more than career lawyers, but what that trust… lack of trust now means is that The government is really going to have to struggle to prove that what it’s saying is true and correct. And I think it’s gonna take decades or more for the department to regain that presumption of regularity. It’s a really sad place to be in where DOJ can’t be trusted by the courts, and that is largely because of the leadership of Todd Blanche.
Tim Dickinson
Now, Todd Blanche obviously cleared the committee by offering assurances, personal assurances, and in writing to two senators that the slush fund was not going to operate in the way that had originally been laid out, and some other technicalities relating to the, sort of, tax amnesty of the Trump family. Is there any indication that those promises are worth anything?
Stacey Young
They don’t seem to be. You know, the… the slush fund. To, you know, meaningfully alter it would require the, you know. consent of both parties. That’s just how contracts work. That’s how settlement agreements work. If you’re gonna alter the terms of the settlement agreement, both parties have to agree with it. It’s like basic contract law. In this case, Todd Blanche signed, an order saying you know, it’s not going forward, it’s dead. That’s worthless! I mean, you know, the… Trump can revive it if he wants. Todd Blanche can rescind that signed document in the future if he wants. It’s… it’s meaningless. And with respect to the IRS immunity deal, I mean, it was… narrowed a little bit, but it still means that President Trump, his sons, his organization have tax immunity, which is something that nobody in our country has. Why is he entitled to this? Why would the Department of Justice go along with it? Why would senators go along with it? You know, these concessions that… Todd Blanche made were so small and meaningless, and even if he had done something to essentially eviscerate the slush fund and the IRS immunity agreement, there are still so many other reasons why he’s disqualifying. So this whole exercise we’ve seen… is really just… kind of pathetic, and for any senators to claim that they, you know, won something out of these negotiations would be, I think, just… In bad faith.
Tim Dickinson
Is it your sense that there are still senators on the fence here, as this moves to the full Senate for a vote? Or if there are, what would you tell those folks about how history is watching this moment?
Stacey Young
You know, from what I understand, I’m not in the Senate, I’m not a Senate staffer. From what I understand. There are some senators… Who have some serious questions, who are still on the fence about… Todd Blanche, who have questions about his tenure. I would say that this vote will go down in history as one of the worst votes we’ve ever seen from the Senate. This is not a vote on a nominee who is fresh, whose work we haven’t seen. This is a job interview of somebody who’s been in the job, who’s been at or near the top of the department for a year and a half. And if senators think that illegal firings of career employees, that the purge of career employees, that the handling of the Epstein files, that vindictive prosecutions, that the erasure of January 6th accountability, that, you know, the abandonment of really adhering to the rule of law, that the destruction of institutional norms, if all of this is okay with senators. Then, you know, they should know that history is going to judge them.
Tim Dickinson
Well, thank you so much for your time. I wanted to… in your day job here at Justice Connection, I wondered, what is the morale inside the house like? What are you hearing from current DOJ staff, and how they are feeling about… the path of their department.
Stacey Young
Yeah, I mean, I think it would be hard to find career employees there who are happy with the way things are going. But the fact that things have been so horrific, and that so many DOJ employees are fighting to stay, to uphold the rule of law, just shows you how committed these civil servants are, how much they care about the work they do, and really, like, how dedicated they are to the rule of law and keeping your country safe and protecting our rights. So, you know, we exist to support those career employees, and we really urge everybody who understands why DOJ is so important. to support DOJ employees you know, and they’re in every state and every community. So, reach out, let them know that you appreciate their service, and that you’re willing to help them in any way they need.
Tim Dickinson
Well, Stacey Young. Thank you so much for your time, and look forward to seeing you next time on The Contrarian.
Stacey Young
Thanks so much, I appreciate it.
