A group of 101 former federal and state judges, joined by Democracy Defenders Fund and Lawyers Defending American Democracy, filed a 73-page complaint on June 22, 2026, with New York's Attorney Grievance Committee, the lawyer-discipline body within the state's court system, asking for a professional-responsibility investigation of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The complaint alleges misconduct in three areas: “abusing the investigative and prosecutorial powers” of the Justice Department to target the president's perceived political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey; Blanche's personal oversight of what the filers call the “botched and incomplete” release of Epstein and Maxwell documents, including the disclosure of thousands of records containing sensitive victim information; and his role in the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the IRS, which would have created a $1.776 billion compensation fund the filers call a slush fund for January 6 rioters and others, along with a release of tax and other liability for Trump, his family and his businesses. The filers say Blanche violated his oath to “bear true faith and allegiance” to the Constitution.
The Justice Department called the complaint a “pathetic stunt conjured up by activist judges.” Blanche, who became Acting Attorney General after Trump fired Pam Bondi in April 2026 and whom Trump then nominated for the permanent job, has not been charged with any wrongdoing; a grievance complaint is a request for an ethics inquiry, not a finding (see Bondi Tells House Investigators She Handed the Epstein Files to Todd Blanche, Then Insists She Didn't Blame Him).
Update (October 2, 2026): The committee's chief attorney replied that it would “take no action in this matter at this time” and pointed the filers to the Justice Department's own Office of Professional Responsibility, which reports to Blanche. On July 24 the groups asked the committee to reconsider, citing a July 13 order by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams finding that Trump's IRS suit was brought for “an improper purpose” and ordering that a copy of her ruling be sent to the State Bar of New York, of which Blanche is a member, according to Democracy Docket.
Correction (October 2, 2026): This entry said the complaint went to the New York State Bar and that it cited a Comey prosecution “a federal judge had flagged as vindictive.” The complaint was filed with New York's Attorney Grievance Committee, part of the state court system, and the sources we could load name Comey as a target of retaliatory prosecutions but do not describe a judicial finding of vindictiveness, so that phrase was removed.