Can Trump’s former defense lawyer protec t the Justice Department from his wrath?

Now that Donald Trump has picked longtime ally Pam Bondi to be attorney general, some DOJ attorneys are turning their attention to Todd Blanche, Trump’s pick for deputy AG, hoping he’ll stand up to the president-elect’s attempts to wield federal law enforcement as a cudgel against his political enemies.

Blanche worked as a career prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, but more recently he was Trump’s lead criminal defense lawyer in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. Some DOJ employees are worried he won’t stand up to Trump, but others are cautiously optimistic. One referred to Blanche as “the closest thing to ‘Team Normal’ that we’ll see.”