‘Bizarre scene’ behind Blanche’s swearing-in emerges as former DOJ staff reveals unusual moment
WASHINGTON, DC: Former Department of Justice attorney Liz Oyer, in an interview with former CNN anchor Jim Acosta on Saturday, August 15, described the swearing-in ceremony for Todd Blanche as a "bizarre scene."
Todd Blanche was officially sworn in as the US Attorney General on August 10, 2026, following a narrow 50–49 Senate confirmation vote on August 8, 2026.
Former DOJ attorney reveals staff had to praise Blanche
Former Justice Department pardon attorney Liz Oyer described the event from an external perspective, noting that DOJ employees had to come out of their offices afterward to applaud him.
After taking the oath at the Oval Office, Blanche went back to the Justice Department headquarters, known as Main Justice, and "people are summoned, people who work in the building are summoned out of their offices to stand there and clap for him while he walks into the building."
Blanche's applause by the staff was filmed and later posted on social media. Oyer noted that videos showed "All these people who are being forced to stand there and clap for him, and then he gets to work."
Blanche's swearing-in, she said, "was just an incredibly bizarre scene and really just so unbelievably inappropriate."
Blanche was sworn in by his junior counsel in private event
Blanche was sworn in by Emil Bove, another former personal lawyer of President Donald Trump.
"He was sworn in at a private event at the White House that was not open to the press," Oyer told Acosta. "You would know better than I, but I think that's unusual that the press is not invited to the swearing-in of the Attorney General."
Blanche’s oath-taking ceremony was a private event, where he was sworn in by his junior co-counsel on Trump's criminal defense, Bove.
"Todd Blanche was like the senior partner representing Donald Trump, and Bove was the junior partner. And they worked very closely together," Oyer said. "Now Bove is an appellate court judge...and Todd Blanche, his other personal lawyer, is now the Attorney General."
Oyer described it as, "The whole gang back together, the whole Trump legal team back together, but this time they're in the Oval Office."
Todd Blanche finally took the oath as the Attorney General after serving as an acting AG for an extended period due to GOP friction and one after another Republican Senators refusing to back him.
