{"id":14025,"date":"2026-07-22T23:48:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14025"},"modified":"2026-07-22T23:48:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:48:33","slug":"trump-keeps-turning-his-criminal-defense-lawyers-into-powerful-federal-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=14025","title":{"rendered":"Trump keeps turning his criminal defense lawyers into powerful federal officials"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"zephr-anchor\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">There was an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/2026\/07\/todd-blanche-attorney-general-confirmation-hearing\/687933\/\">unintentionally revealing moment<\/a> in acting Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s confirmation hearing last week. After Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) asked Blanche whether he and President Donald Trump are friends, the leader of the United States Department of Justice replied, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/cyxwYIK1tkM\">I\u2019m his lawyer<\/a>,\u201d before correcting himself and saying he \u201cwas his lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Blanche previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/what-to-know-about-todd-blanche-trumps-pick-for-acting-attorney-general\">defended Trump in three criminal cases<\/a> brought while the president was out of office, but he is emphatically not supposed to be Trump\u2019s lawyer right now. As acting attorney general \u2014 Blanche <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/490959\/todd-blanche-attorney-general-trump-goon\">currently leads the DOJ<\/a> because the attorney general\u2019s job is vacant and Blanche is the Senate-confirmed deputy attorney general (DAG) \u2014 Blanche\u2019s client is the United States, not the person who happens to occupy the White House.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But it\u2019s easy to see why he misspoke: Blanche has largely acted as Trump\u2019s hammer since he was confirmed as the DOJ\u2019s No. 2 official, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/490959\/todd-blanche-attorney-general-trump-goon\">overseeing numerous prosecutions<\/a> of Trump\u2019s perceived enemies. Now Trump wants to promote him to the DOJ\u2019s top job \u2014 a sign of Trump\u2019s confidence in his former criminal defense lawyer turned personal enforcer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">It\u2019s unusual for a president to put his own defense lawyer in such a powerful position \u2014 indeed, it\u2019s unusual for a president to have a criminal defense lawyer at all. But Trump has a long string of attorneys who\u2019ve defended him and his companies against an equally long string of criminal allegations ranging from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/donald-trump\/trump-organization-faces-sentencing-tax-fraud-scheme-rcna65013\">tax fraud<\/a>, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/352465\/trump-convicted-felon-elections\">falsifying business records<\/a>, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2023\/6\/9\/23755679\/indictment-unsealed-trump-charges-explained-classified-documents\">illegally taking classified documents<\/a>, to charges arising from his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/scotus\/2023\/12\/14\/23998936\/supreme-court-trump-crimes-jack-smith-election-theft-immunity-january-6\">failed attempt to steal the 2020 presidential election<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">And he\u2019s put at least five of those criminal defense lawyers in top federal jobs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Trump\u2019s decision to turn much of his criminal legal team into powerful government officials matters for two big reasons. The first is that two members of that team, Blanche and Solicitor General John Sauer, are leaders within the Justice Department. Next to the military, there is no more fearsome government institution than the DOJ, which has the power to arrest people and try them for federal crimes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">The DOJ is supposed to exercise this authority with restraint \u2014 and often with restraints imposed by the Constitution itself \u2014 but Blanche has used the Justice Department\u2019s power against Trump\u2019s political enemies who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/462958\/james-comey-indictment-read-perjury-trump-bondi\">appear to have committed no crime<\/a> and removed constraints on Trump and his Justice Department, all while Sauer has worked consistently to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/scotus\/460270\/supreme-court-republican-partisan-hacks-donald-trump\">convince the Supreme Court to remove other constraints on Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Meanwhile three of Trump\u2019s former criminal lawyers, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/scotus\/420601\/supreme-court-emil-bove-conservative-case\">Emil Bove<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/us-law-week\/senate-confirms-another-trump-attorney-to-appeals-court-seat\">Justin Smith<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/us-senate-confirms-3rd-trump-personal-attorney-serve-us-appellate-judge-2026-07-14\/\">Matthew Schwartz<\/a>, now have lifetime appointments as US Court of Appeals judges, placing them one rung on the judicial ladder down from the Supreme Court. The judiciary, of course, is the branch of government that is supposed to prevent the president from breaking the law, so every Trump loyalist appointed to this branch weakens the remaining legal constraints on Trump and his administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Trump, of course, isn\u2019t the only president to place close confidants in the Justice Department or the federal bench. President John F. Kennedy famously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jfklibrary.org\/learn\/about-jfk\/the-kennedy-family\/robert-f-kennedy\">named his brother attorney general<\/a>. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Abe Fortas, who <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkwy.org\/columns\/justice-abe-fortas-life-as-a-lawyers-lawyer-and-a-greek-tragedy\/\">represented him in a 1948 election dispute<\/a>, to the Supreme Court in 1965.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But Trump\u2019s decision to place someone willing to pursue his personal vendettas in charge of the Justice Department is, at the very least, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.execfunctions.org\/p\/edward-levis-department-of-justice\">break with post-Watergate norms<\/a> established to prevent the DOJ from becoming a political weapon. And Fortas, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/our-work\/analysis-opinion\/cautionary-tale-abe-fortas\">resigned in disgrace<\/a> after fewer than four years on the bench, is more of a cautionary tale than a model of good governance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Although the current Supreme Court is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/494282\/supreme-court-illegible\">dominated by conservative Republicans<\/a>, some of these justices do break with Trump on questions that divide the Republican Party \u2014 such as whether Trump should <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/479919\/supreme-court-trump-tariffs-learning-resources\">unilaterally impose high tariffs on many nations<\/a>. But if Trump gets to turn his personal cronies into justices, that could change quickly. A judiciary controlled by MAGA loyalists means that all remaining checks on Trump\u2019s authority could end. Many of his former-lawyers-turned-appointees are already working to make an unchecked Trump administration a reality.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">How are Trump\u2019s former personal lawyers already reshaping American legal norms?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Smith, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/trump-nominates-lawyer-from-his-legal-team-to-appeals-court-bench\/\">worked on the <em>Trump<\/em> <em>v. United States<\/em> immunity case<\/a>, was <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/us-law-week\/senate-confirms-another-trump-attorney-to-appeals-court-seat\">confirmed last month<\/a>. And Schwartz, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/us-senate-confirms-3rd-trump-personal-attorney-serve-us-appellate-judge-2026-07-14\/\">worked on the false documents case<\/a> that led to Trump\u2019s conviction, <a href=\"https:\/\/legis1.com\/news\/matthew-schwartz-second-circuit-senate-confirms\">joined the bench last week<\/a>. So there\u2019s not much to say about these two men\u2019s record in federal office \u2014 yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But Blanche, Bove, and Sauer have all displayed ruthless cunning in their efforts to advance Trump and his causes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Blanche has been DAG since March 2025, a role that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/490959\/todd-blanche-attorney-general-trump-goon\">oversees the federal government\u2019s criminal prosecutions<\/a> and its 93 regional US Attorneys\u2019 offices. He\u2019s led the entire Justice Department since April, after former Attorney General Pam Bondi \u2014 another of Trump\u2019s former personal lawyers \u2014 left office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">So Blanche oversaw several dubious federal prosecutions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/490959\/todd-blanche-attorney-general-trump-goon\">targeting people Trump perceives as enemies<\/a>, including criminal proceedings targeting former FBI Director James Comey and current New York Attorney General Letitia James. There\u2019s also evidence that Blanche has played an unusually direct role in the Justice Department\u2019s decision to bring meritless charges against prominent Democrats.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">In May 2025, for example, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat, showed up at an ICE detention facility in his New Jersey city and asked to tour it. He was briefly let inside the gate, where he was confronted by about a dozen law enforcement officers and asked to leave, which he did.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But then one of these officers received a phone call. A video, later submitted to a federal court, shows the officer turning to his colleagues after the call and announcing, \u201cWe are arresting the mayor right now, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2025\/08\/18\/newark-mayor-arrest-bodycam-footage-todd-blanche-00513734\">per the deputy attorney general of the United States<\/a>.\u201d That deputy attorney general, of course, was Blanche. (In a September court filing, DOJ confirmed that officers arrested Baraka \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/levin-center.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-09-15-Memorandum-in-Opposition-to-McIver-Motion-to-Dismiss-to-Compel-Discovery-and-to-Restrain-Extrajudicial-Statements.pdf\">after consulting with the Deputy Attorney General<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Yet, despite Blanche\u2019s apparent decision to personally order Baraka\u2019s arrest, the DAG forgot to check whether Baraka had actually done something that could support criminal charges. The mayor was only charged with misdemeanor trespassing, and those charges were dismissed two weeks later. At the court hearing formally dropping these charges, a federal magistrate judge admonished prosecutors for \u201cusing the immense power of the government to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/462869\/lamonica-mciver-prosecution-trump-authoritarianism\">pursue weak cases or to make examples without sufficient cause<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Blanche also unsuccessfully attempted to establish Trump\u2019s $1.776 billion \u201canti-weaponization fund,\u201d which would have been used to distribute money to Trump\u2019s allies \u2014 including, potentially, Trump supporters who participated in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Although the fund appears dead after it received bipartisan pushback in Congress, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/justice-department-announces-anti-weaponization-fund\">DOJ press release announcing the fund<\/a> said it was \u201cestablished\u201d by the attorney general, a role performed by Blanche, and that the fund would be administered by five people chosen by Blanche.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Before Trump took office, Bove was Blanche\u2019s law partner. Shortly before Bove joined the bench, he briefly served as principal associate deputy attorney general \u2014 essentially the DAG\u2019s top deputy, which meant that Bove was Blanche\u2019s right-hand man. In that role, he was often described as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/scotus\/420601\/supreme-court-emil-bove-conservative-case\">Trump\u2019s \u201cenforcer.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Bove spent only about half a year as Blanche\u2019s lieutenant, but he managed to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/scotus\/420601\/supreme-court-emil-bove-conservative-case\">spark a mini-revolt<\/a> in one of the Justice Department\u2019s most prestigious offices during his short tenure. After Bove ordered the DOJ to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/02\/10\/nyregion\/adams-case-dismiss-memo.html\">dismiss corruption charges<\/a> against then-New York City Mayor Eric Adams \u201cwithout prejudice,\u201d a maneuver that would allow the charges to be reinstated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/07\/16\/opinion\/emil-bove-trump-loyalty.html\">if Adams did not cooperate<\/a> with the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown, seven federal prosecutors resigned rather than comply with Bove\u2019s order.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">One was Danielle Sassoon, a former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative icon. Another, Hagan Scotten, wrote in his resignation letter to Bove that \u201cI expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.\u201d Scotten clerked for Republican Chief Justice John Roberts and for future Republican Justice Brett Kavanaugh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Meanwhile, a whistleblower complaint by another former DOJ lawyer claims that Bove said, in a meeting about a court decision halting some deportations, \u201cthat D.O.J. would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/06\/24\/us\/politics\/justice-department-emil-bove-trump-deportations-reuveni.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare\">need to consider telling the courts \u2018fuck you\u2019<\/a> and ignore any such order.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Trump appointed Bove to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit last September. Federal appeals courts typically spend months deciding cases, so his tenure on the Third Circuit has thus far been less eventful than his time at the DOJ. But there are early signs that he remains loyal to Trump even after moving into an independent branch of government. Bove <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/10\/us\/politics\/emil-bove-trump-rally.html\">attended a Trump rally<\/a> in December, a highly unusual move for judges who are supposed to remain nonpartisan. And the background image on his iPhone is reportedly an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/06\/us\/emil-bove-judge-trump.html\">image of a defiant Trump raising a fist<\/a>, or at least it was months after he joined the bench.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">That leaves Sauer who, as solicitor general, is tasked with defending federal government programs in the Supreme Court. That <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/479919\/supreme-court-trump-tariffs-learning-resources\">includes the Trump tariffs<\/a> that the Supreme Court struck down last winter, and Trump\u2019s unconstitutional attempt to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/culture\/493694\/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-trump-barbara\">strip many newborn Americans of their citizenship<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Despite these losses, Sauer has an impressive winning record before the Supreme Court, largely because the Court is controlled by six Republicans who are highly sympathetic to Trump and his agenda. This is, after all, the same Court that said that Trump may use the powers of the presidency to commit crimes, after Sauer argued as much.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Sauer has been particularly effective in persuading the Republican justices to block lower court rulings against Trump on the Court\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/scotus\/460270\/supreme-court-republican-partisan-hacks-donald-trump\">shadow docket<\/a>,\u201d a once rarely used mix of emergency motions and other matters that became a routine part of Supreme Court litigation during Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">So Trump has taken several of his personal lawyers and transformed them into some of the most well-credentialed \u2014 and in some cases, the most powerful \u2014 figures in the legal profession. Thus far, the evidence suggests that these individuals remain loyal to Trump, even when they move into jobs that are supposed to be nonpartisan. Three of them already have lifetime appointments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Any nation governed by the rule of law must have government officials who will obey whatever constraints the law imposes \u2014 whether they be federal agency leaders who follow the law out of a sense of duty, or judges who rein in executive branch leaders who refuse to do so. Institutions like the Department of Justice also depend on informal norms, many of which are a response to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.execfunctions.org\/p\/edward-levis-department-of-justice\">similar abuses of power during the Nixon administration<\/a>, that have long constrained federal prosecutors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But Trump\u2019s DOJ is often actively hostile to these norms, and the growing legal power of Trump\u2019s personal lawyers is just the latest example. Their steady reshaping of the judiciary clears the way for a federal government that is not constrained by anything.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There was an unintentionally revealing moment in acting Attorney General Todd Blanche\u2019s confirmation hearing last week. After Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) asked Blanche whether he and President Donald Trump are friends, the leader of the United States Department of Justice replied, \u201cI\u2019m his lawyer,\u201d before correcting himself and saying he \u201cwas his lawyer.\u201d Blanche previously&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/gettyimages-2286221537.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C12.790387810766%2C100%2C74.419224378468&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}