The frontrunner to oversee a new national counter-fraud push at the Justice Department in the wake of revelations of massive public benefits fraud in Minnesota is a top official in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s office, sources familiar with the decision told CBS News.
Colin McDonald is being considered for the newly created position of assistant attorney general, the sources said. McDonald is a longtime federal prosecutor who is currently an associate deputy attorney general.
Mr. Trump said Wednesday he had someone in mind for the post, but he was not ready to announce a name. His nominee will require Senate confirmation.
“We have chosen a person who’s very tough, very smart, very fair,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office. White House spokespeople declined to comment on Thursday.
Mr. Trump earlier this month announced that the Justice Department would be establishing a new division tasked with investigating and prosecuting fraud against the federal government, as well as private citizens.
Questions remain about how the new division after Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Jan. 8 that it will be different from a special counsel because it will be “run out of the White House under the supervision of me and the president United States.”
Running a Justice Department division from the White House would be counter to longstanding norms that were implemented in the wake of the Watergate scandal to insulate the department from political interference in criminal and civil cases.
However, sources told CBS News on Thursday that the division will be run out of the Justice Department like all the others, with a presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed nominee in charge.
There used to be 10 assistant attorney general positions at the Justice Department, though that was recently decreased to nine after the department shuttered the Tax Division and folded it into two other offices.
The White House is leaning into new anti-fraud efforts and more oversight is likely to be announced in coming weeks.
The new assistant attorney general post will be structured the same way as existing roles, according to one of the sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The Justice Department’s current criminal and civil divisions, as well as U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country, already handle a wide variety of fraud cases, from healthcare fraud to violations of the False Claims Act.
McDonald is considered a close ally to Blanche, one of the people familiar with the matter told CBS News. The fact that Mr. Trump is considering him for the role suggests that the White House is listening to Blanche’s advice, the person added.
Of all of the associate deputy attorneys general in Blanche’s office, McDonald is among those with the most experience in the field as a prosecutor.
He is also among a handful of close advisers in Blanche’s office who has been involved in efforts to root out what Trump allies have described as the weaponization of the U.S. justice system against him during President Biden’s tenure, according to government records reviewed by CBS News.
In the Deputy Attorney General’s office, McDonald is the lead lawyer who liaises with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The creation of a new fraud-focused division at the Justice Department comes as Minnesota and its officials have come under nationwide scrutiny over a growing fraud scandal in the state, which prosecutors estimate could top $9 billion.
At least six federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota recently quit over concerns about the Justice Department’s handling of a criminal investigation into the fatal shooting death of a Minneapolis woman at the hands of a federal law enforcement officer.
More than 90 people have faced federal charges as a result of fraud schemes in the state that have come to light since 2021.
Prosecutors have uncovered widespread fraud in various social services programs, including a housing program for seniors, one that provides services to children with autism and the Federal Child Nutrition Program.
