A former Trump attorney is emerging as a potential contender for U.S. Attorney General under the administration of President Donald Trump.
“We need to make the Department of Justice something that Americans respect and are proud of, rather than something that Americans fear,” Ticktin told NTD. “There's just too many prosecutions of people who are innocent.”
After removing Pam Bondi from her position as Attorney General on April 2, Trump appointed Todd Blanche as the current acting United States Attorney General.
Before his appointment as acting attorney general, Blanche served as the Deputy Attorney General under Bondi.
Bondi’s failure in the position concerns and worries Ticktin.
“The last thing I really want to do in my life is be the Attorney General of the United States,” he said. “I'm seeking the position because I believe my country needs it.”
Among Ticktin’s priorities if he were appointed is to decriminalize soft drugs, such as marijuana, to stop the Justice Department from weaponizing against citizens who are guilty of minor transgressions and treated like they violated major crimes.
He estimates there would be 25 percent less crime if soft drugs were decriminalized.
“We never reduced our police forces and number of prosecutors so all these people have to rationalize their existence by drumming up more cases,” Ticktin said. "It's going to take a major adjustment."
Ticktin didn’t express interest in the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government sooner because he said it didn't look like any changes were going to be made.
“I wrote to the president and told him that I'm applying for that office and I want to be the attorney general about three weeks before Pam Bondi was terminated,” Ticktin said. “I kind of knew before others that she was on her way out. Not that anybody told me.”
Bondi was terminated last month.
Ticktin is known for his legal work with fellow attorney Alina Habba. They were among the attorneys who represented Trump in a 2022 lawsuit against Hillary Clinton.
Trump named Habba as interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey in March 2025. She served until disqualified in Dec. 2025.
“I'm very much involved in the elections in terms of the lawsuits that are going on still and the lawfare that has taken place, including the law theory regarding elections,” Ticktin added.