Deputy attorney general who defended Trump in hush money trial is named
acting librarian of Congress
[May 13, 2025]
By HILLEL ITALIE and SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who represented
Donald Trump during his 2024 criminal trial, has been appointed acting
librarian of Congress, the Justice Department said Monday. Blanche
replaces longtime librarian Carla Hayden, whom the White House fired
last week amid criticism from conservatives that she was advancing a
“woke” agenda.
Also Monday, two other Trump appointees to the library attempted
unsuccessfully to enter the Copyright Office, according to a person with
knowledge of the incident. Brian Nieves, a deputy chief of staff and
senior counsel in Blanche’s office, was named acting assistant
librarian, Justice Department spokesman Chad Gilmartin confirmed. And
Paul Perkins, an associate deputy attorney general and veteran Justice
Department attorney, is now the acting register of copyrights and
director of the Copyright Office, replacing Shira Perlmutter, whom the
Trump administration pushed out last weekend.
Nieves and Perkins were in the hallway outside the Copyright Office,
which is part of the Library of Congress, but could not get in without
access to badges, according to the person. After a brief discussion with
library officials and U.S. Capitol Police, whom the library had
contacted, the appointees left voluntarily. The person was not
authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Capitol Police said that no one was barred from, or escorted out of, the
building and otherwise referred questions back to the Library of
Congress.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Monday that
lawmakers are investigating whether Trump has the power to fire the
librarian of Congress, who is technically a legislative branch employee.
“We want to make sure congressional equities are respected and protected
in this process,” Thune said.
The Associated Press obtained an internal memo from Robert Randolph
Newlen, who had been serving as acting librarian, saying that Congress
was “engaged” with the White House about Blanche’s appointment and that
the library had not yet “received direction from Congress about how to
move forward.”
The implications of Trump's installing a close ally as librarian of
Congress could be far-reaching.
For instance, the librarian could see requests made by lawmakers to the
Congressional Research Service, which are usually seen only by the
requesting office and the CRS itself, according to a congressional aide
who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on the condition of
anonymity.
The nonpartisan agency is largely known as the think tank of Capitol
Hill and provides analyses meant to help lawmakers in the legislative
process. But Democrats are already concerned about what kind of
information Trump-appointed officials could access in a process that is
typically confidential between CRS and lawmakers.
Senior House Democrats on Monday also raised the prospect that data held
by the Library of Congress, which holds a vast archive of books and
historical documents, could have been improperly transferred to the
executive branch, including officials at Trump adviser Elon Musk’s
Department of Government Efficiency.
Unauthorized information sharing “could compromise legislative branch
independence and the ability of Members of Congress to carry out their
constitutional duties,” according to the letter, which was signed by
lawmakers including New York Rep. Joe Morelle and Connecticut Rep. Rosa
DeLauro, the top Democrats on the House Administration and
Appropriations committees, respectively. They are asking for an
inspector general investigation.
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Todd Blanche, attorney for President-elect Donald Trump, departs
court, Jan. 7, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson,
File)
Since returning to office in January, Trump has purged officials he
regards as opposed to him and to his Republican agenda. Hayden,
nominated by President Barack Obama in 2015 and confirmed on a 74-18
Senate vote the following year, named Perlmutter as head of the
Copyright Office in 2020.
Shortly before her firing, Perlmutter’s office released a highly
anticipated report that questioned the legality of the tech industry’s
use of copyrighted works to “train” their artificial intelligence
systems and compete with the human-made works they were trained on.
Tech companies have argued their AI training practices are protected by
the “fair use” doctrine, which allows for limited uses of copyrighted
materials such as for teaching, research or transforming the copyrighted
work into something different. Perlmutter’s report questioned those
assumptions, arguing that “making commercial use of vast troves of
copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them
in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through
illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries.”
The report — despite being marked as “pre-publication” — quickly made
waves in legal circles after it was posted online late last week,
winning praise from creators who have challenged the tech industry in
court, and criticism from a tech industry trade group.
It was the third and final part of a yearslong study that Perlmutter
began in 2023, with the intent to advise Congress and others on whether
reforms are needed. The report didn’t call for government intervention,
and its nuanced findings hold no official weight in the numerous
copyright infringement lawsuits now pending against tech companies.
But attention around the report grew after Perlmutter’s firing Saturday,
including from Trump’s supporters.
Mike Davis, a lawyer who regularly defends Trump, posted an alarm emoji
on social media and warned: “Now tech bros are going to attempt to steal
creators’ copyrights for AI profits. This is 100% unacceptable.”
Blanche was named the No. 2 Justice Department official after serving as
Trump's criminal defense attorney in two cases brought by the department
during President Joe Biden's administration. He is a former federal
prosecutor who was a key figure on Trump’s defense team in his New York
hush money trial, which ended in a conviction on 34 felony counts.
Hayden's dismissal was widely condemned by Democrats and by many who
worked with Hayden, the first Black person and the first woman to be
named librarian of Congress. Ada Limon, who served three years as U.S.
poet laureate after Hayden chose her in 2022, said last week that “Dr.
Carla Hayden is the kindest, brightest, most generous Librarian of
Congress we could have hoped for as a nation.”
The creators and cast of the Tony-nominated musical “Dead Outlaw”
canceled a planned visit to the library and issued a statement praising
Hayden as "a fierce advocate for preserving America’s cultural memory
and a great champion of the Broadway community.”
___
Italie reported from New York. Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin
Richer and Eric Tucker in Washington and Matt O’Brien in Providence,
R.I., contributed to this report.
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