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WASHINGTON — <\/span>President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate Todd Blanche<\/a> to serve as attorney general, tapping his former personal lawyer who has aggressively pursued the Republican president\u2019s agenda while leading the Justice Department in an acting role.<\/p>\n Trump said at a dinner at the White House that he plans to nominate Blanche formally on Thursday, according to a video of the event posted on social media by a White House aide.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to make him permanent attorney general,\u201d Trump said at the Rose Garden event.<\/p>\n Blanche sought quickly to position himself as the favorite for the permanent job after Pam Bondi\u2019s firing in April, accelerating investigations into Trump foes and announcing a nearly $1.8 billion fund<\/a> meant to compensate the president\u2019s allies for alleged political persecution. The proposed fund created a bipartisan firestorm that forced the Justice Department to scrap the idea<\/a> earlier this week in an extraordinary about-face. <\/p>\n Blanche was brought into the Justice Department as deputy attorney general and was elevated after Bondi\u2019s ousting over her failed efforts to prosecute Trump\u2019s perceived political opponents. Blanche insisted he wasn\u2019t auditioning to become attorney general but made clear through splashy moves since taking the reins his intent on proving his loyalty to Trump. <\/p>\n Blanche\u2019s actions have outraged Democrats and other critics who accuse him of still acting like Trump\u2019s personal lawyer to carry out the president\u2019s campaign of retribution. The $1.776 billion \u201cAnti-Weaponization Fund\u201d also prompted backlash from Republicans in the Senate whose support Blanche will now need in order to be confirmed as attorney general. <\/p>\n Blanche told lawmakers on Tuesday the Justice Department would not move forward with the plan after the political blowback stalled legislation to fund Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement agencies. <\/p>\n While Blanche has maintained he feels no pressure from the president, the Justice Department under his watch has advanced its pursuits of longtime Trump foes. <\/p>\n Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted in April over a social media photo<\/a> of seashells arranged on a beach that officials said constituted a threat the president. Comey, who has slammed the case as politically motivated, has said he wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the Justice Department pursues additional indictments against him.<\/p>\n Blanche separately appointed Joseph diGenova, an 81-year-old former Justice Department prosecutor from the Reagan administration, to oversee a Florida-based investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired<\/a> over the last decade to undermine Trump.<\/p>\n A former federal prosecutor in New York, Blanche came to public prominence for his lead role on Trump\u2019s defense team, including during the Republican\u2019s hush money trial in New York.<\/a> That perch afforded him, he has said, a firsthand look at what he contends was the weaponization of the criminal justice system against Trump.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n