More than 1,200 former Justice Department employees urged U.S. senators on Monday to reject the confirmation of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, citing a “culture of fear” he has instilled within the DOJ. “The consequences of Blanche’s attacks on DOJ’s apolitical workforce radiate beyond the halls of Main Justice, affecting the entire country,” the letter signed by the ex-DOJ staffers read. “They’ve meant that much of the department’s vital work isn’t being done, or isn’t being done as well – leaving communities less safe, Americans’ rights less protected, and our national security more vulnerable.” The letter, written by the Justice Connection, a network of DOJ alumni and first reported by Scott MacFarlane, MeidasTouch’s chief Washington correspondent, comes amid a series of controversies Blanche faced after he temporarily took over Pam Bondi’s job.“Since his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche has shown time and again that his guiding star is fealty to the President, not the Constitution,” Stacey Young, executive director of Justice Connection, said in a press release.“That fealty led to the purge of thousands of experienced career employees, a loss that will have a generational impact on the Justice Department’s ability to carry out its mission and maintain credibility with the courts and the American people,” she continued.Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche face scrutiny from his former employees (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Anna Moneymaker via Getty ImagesDuring his time in leadership, Blanche went full force into investigating President Donald Trump’s foes and announced a close to $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate the president’s loyalists over alleged political persecution, such as the Jan. 6 rioters. Blanche has also come under fire for his department’s handling of the case files of Trump’s former friend and sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein.The former DOJ employees and appointees of both Republican and Democratic administrations prefaced their letter by stating that they “took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not the occupant of the White House.” It continued, “That oath now compels us to speak out against the nomination of Todd Blanche for Attorney General – someone who took the same oath, but has utterly failed to abide by it.” The letter highlighted Blanche’s controversies, but focused more on his apparent “degradation of DOJ’s apolitical career workforce,” accusing him of “demonizing career employees, undermining their work, and driving them out of the department.” The Justice Department has been gutted under the second Trump administration, and a number of career employees have either been terminated under Blanche’s leadership, including those who worked on the criminal investigation into the president. The letter stated that these terminations “violate the very civil service statutes designed to prevent corruption and political purges,” adding that those who resigned under Blanche did so to avoid following “illegal or unethical orders” or out of fear that such orders will come. The former DOJ staffers proclaim that “the culture of fear Blanche has instilled within DOJ’s workforce must end.” The letter read, “Respect for career professionals must return. Would-be job applicants need to believe the Justice Department lives up to the virtue in its name. And instead of exhibiting fealty to the president, the Attorney General must heed John Adams’ admonition that our republic remains a ‘government of laws, not of men.’”