Watchdog Files New York Bar Complaint Against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 27, 2026
Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Campaign for Accountability (CfA) asked the Attorney Grievance Committee of the First Judicial Department of New York and the Committee on Grievances of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to investigate Todd Blanche, a New York-licensed attorney and Acting Attorney General of the United States, for potential violations of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct arising from his role in the prosecution of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. CfA also shared the complaint with the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, where the prosecution was brought.
CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said, “A federal judge found that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche personally launched a criminal prosecution not to enforce the law, but to provide cover for the administration after Mr. Abrego Garcia fought against his illegal deportation to El Salvador where he was imprisoned in CECOT. It is imperative that the New York Bar hold Mr. Blanche accountable for his reprehensible conduct.”
On May 22, 2026, Chief United States District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. dismissed the indictment of Mr. Abrego Garcia, finding the government had failed to rebut the presumption of vindictive prosecution. Judge Crenshaw found that “absent Abrego’s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution,” and placed responsibility directly on Mr. Blanche, writing that he “started the investigation to implicate Abrego” to “justify the Executive Branch’s decision to remove him to El Salvador.”
The complaint, based on the federal court’s findings, details how, after federal courts ordered the executive branch to facilitate Mr. Abrego Garcia’s return following an acknowledged wrongful deportation, Mr. Blanche’s office reopened a previously-closed investigation, delivered a cooperating witness to prosecutors at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, and directed the timing of the indictment — over the written objection of the Tennessee Criminal Division Chief, who resigned the day the charges were filed after a fifteen-year career. The same day the indictment was unsealed, the executive branch repatriated Mr. Abrego Garcia to face the charges. The complaint also addresses Mr. Blanche’s placing DOJ immigration attorney Erez Reuveni on administrative leave after Mr. Reuveni told the Maryland court that Mr. Abrego Garcia’s removal had been a mistake and refused to file a brief asserting, without evidence, that Mr. Abrego Garcia was a terrorist. Mr. Reuveni was fired a few days later.
Through his actions, Mr. Blanche may have violated Rules 8.4(c), (d), and (h) (prohibiting dishonesty, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, and conduct reflecting adversely on fitness as a lawyer); Rule 3.4(e) (prohibiting use of criminal charges to gain advantage in a civil matter); Rules 8.4(a) and 5.1(d) (prohibiting a supervising lawyer from inducing subordinates to violate the Rules); and Rule 3.3(a)(1) (prohibiting false statements to a tribunal).
Ms. Kuppersmith continued, “A court finding that a lawyer was involved in a presumptively vindictive prosecution should be sufficient to trigger an investigation by the New York bar. Failing to act when confronted by such a court decision would undermine the bar’s credibility.”
Earlier this month, the Attorney Grievance Committee of the Third Judicial Department of New York sent CfA a letter stating that it had determined prosecutorial misconduct by another DOJ official, John Sarcone III, the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York. The committee’s action was in response to a complaint CfA filed in August 2025.
Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.