At 4:31 a.m. on Saturday, August 8, under the cover of darkness, the U.S. Senate confirmed Donald Trump’s former defense lawyer and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as the permanent attorney general. He had added the position of acting attorney general to the post of deputy attorney general held since the beginning of Trump’s second term when the president fired then-Attorney General Pam Bondi in April. Blanche defended Trump in two cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, both of which were dismissed following Trump’s reelection. The Justice Department under Blanche has sought voting records from dozens of states, and Blanche has endorsed the deployment of ICE agents outside polling locations. Ex-Attorney General Bondi put Blanche in charge of the cover-up of the Epstein scandal, and he has diligently fulfilled this task.