WASHINGTON, June 9 -- The lawyer who sat beside Donald Trump at the defense table through his hush-money trial, and who fought the two federal cases against him, is now the president's choice to run the department that once tried to prosecute him. On Monday the White House said it had formally sent the Senate the nomination of Todd Blanche to be attorney general, permanently.

The submission turns months of arrangement into a formal fact. Blanche has led the Justice Department in an acting capacity since Trump fired Pam Bondi in April, and the president signaled last week that he would make the job permanent. The paperwork that reached the Senate on Monday starts the confirmation clock, and with it a fight.

What makes the choice extraord...