From Trump's criminal defense lawyer to acting AG -- who is Todd Blanche?

Pam Bondi's departure has set up one of President Donald Trump's staunchest legal allies to take over as acting attorney general.

But as the spotlight on Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche grows following Thursday's Justice Department shakeup, questions are sure to arise about his deep loyalty to the president and handling of key investigations including the Jeffrey Epstein probe.

Trump's criminal cases

Blanche, 51, previously represented Trump after his first term in the White House in the criminal cases brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and former special counsel Jack Smith.

He formerly worked as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York before joining a Wall Street law firm then entering private practice.

Blanche left his position at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft after he claimed senior leadership told him he could not represent Trump. That helped Blanche to establish his bona fides in Trump's inner circle.

Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury on 34 felony counts after prosecutors alleged that he engaged in a "scheme" to boost his chances during the 2016 presidential election through a series of hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, and then falsified New York business records to cover up that alleged criminal conduct.

New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump to anunconditional discharge-- without prison, fines or probation -- saying it was the "only lawful sentence" to prevent "encroaching upon the highest office in the land." The president is appealing the conviction.

After Trump was reelected president in November 2024, Jack Smith's probe into allegations that Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election wasdismissed without prejudicedue to the Justice Department's long-standing policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.

A month later, Smith dropped his investigation into Trump's handling of classified materials after leaving the White House in 2021.

No. 2 at the DOJ

Trump appointed Blanche to the No. 2 position at the Justice Department after assuming office, prompting criticism from Democrats and other opponents who contended the president was filling the Justice Department with biased loyalists.

During confirmation hearings before being confirmed in March 2025, Blanche repeatedly dodged questions about whether he would recuse himself from matters related to Trump.

"I don't think President Trump is going to ask me to do anything illegal or immoral," he said.

Blanche was frequently seen with Bondi and backed the department's probes into the president's opponents, such as former FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired, and the administration's immigration enforcement operation.

Last week, Blanche spoke to the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he cheered the department's removal of what he said were "over 200" officials tied to past investigations of Trump.

And he cited Trump's Day 1 pardons of all defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as among the top accomplishments of the administration.

"There is not a single man or woman with a gun, federal agent, still in that organization that had anything to do with the prosecution of President Trump," he said in a sit-down interview with CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp.

He acknowledged at CPAC the MAGA supporters who have grown impatient with the Justice Department in Trump's second term.

"So when people say, 'Why aren't you doing more?' I welcome that criticism," Blanche said. "Keep on putting pressure on us. Do you think it makes me upset when you go on X and say, 'Come on, Blanche, why aren't we doing more?' You don't know me. That's what motivates me."

Criticism over Epstein files

Trump's MAGA supporters and conservatives have long called for the federal government to release more information into the Epstein investigation.

Bondi and the Justice Department came under fire for their handling of the files, with critics charging that they had not been transparent. Blanche has also faced questions about his role in the probe.

Bondi at one point claimed the files were on her desk. Last summer the Justice Department came under fire from conservative groups after Bondi and the FBI put out a memo that said there was no basis for new charges and no "client list."

In July, Blanche sparked controversy when he traveled to Florida for an unusual interview with Epstein's imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking. Maxwell received a limited immunity for the interview, which allowed her to answer Blanche's questions freely, sources told ABC News.

Maxwell told Blanche during the two-day interview there was no client list, no blackmail scheme and, to her knowledge, no high-profile Epstein associates who committed illicit acts in connection with his crimes.

"I never heard that. I never saw it, and I never imagined it," she told Blanche, according to a transcript and recording of the interview.

Democrats have questioned why after the interview that Maxwell was transferred to a lower-security prison facility.

The Justice Department has denied Maxwell received special treatment and said the transfer was due to credible security threats against her.

In September, Blanche defended his decision to interview her and argued that whether or not Maxwell was a credible witness was an "impossible question."

"I met with her for two days. To determine whether a witness is credible takes weeks and weeks and weeks," Blanche said in an interview with CNN.

The government had previously argued Maxwell should be afforded no credibility during her criminal case, citing her "willingness to lie brazenly under oath about her conduct," according to court records.

Blanche contended in the CNN interview that Maxwell "had been in prison for many, many years, and she had offered to speak on many, many occasions.

"And she was never given that opportunity," Blanche said. "What I did is I gave her that opportunity to speak," Blanche said.

In November, a bipartisan discharge petition in the House gained enough signatures to force the Justice Department to release all of the government's files on Epstein,with certain exceptions, but the release was marred by missed deadlines and errors in redacting names.

A group of Epstein survivors slammed the release and demanded accountability for those they say either enabled Epstein or have been accused of abuse by victims as well.

Blanche acknowledged there were errors in the release of the files during an interview with ABC News' "This Week" in February.

"Every time we hear from a victim or their lawyer that they believe that their name was not properly redacted, we immediately rectified that. And the numbers we're talking about, just so the American people understand, we're talking about .001 percent of all the materials," he said.

Will he become AG?

Trump announced Thursday that Blanche will "step in to serve as Acting Attorney General." Blanche thanked Trump in a statement posted on X.

"We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe," he said.

Under federal law, those filling presidentially nominated positions in an acting capacity are limited to 210 days from the date of the vacancy, but that date is reset once a nomination for the position is made, which gives the administration leeway if it wants to extend an acting official's time in office.

Trump did not indicate whether Blanche would be a candidate to permanently replace Bondi in her position full time.

ABC News Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.