Attorney General Todd Blanche made a striking declaration about the DOJ’s relationship with the White House. The newly confirmed AG explained his stance on the department’s independence from Donald Trump during a heated interview exchange.
Attorney General Todd Blanche rejects a blanket Justice Department independence pledge from Donald Trump’s White House
US Attorney General Todd Blanche refused to pledge that the Justice Department would act independently from the White House, NBC’s Meet the Press reported on Sunday.
“No, I’m not going to pledge that,” Blanche told host Kristen Welker during the interview. “And no attorney general should ever pledge that.” He also asserted that President Donald Trump would never ask him to cross ethical or legal boundaries. “The president will never ask me to do something unethical or illegal,” Blanche stated. “He never has. He never will.”
Blanche further dismissed concerns about White House interference as a manufactured controversy. “This narrative that’s mostly pushed by the left and pushed by the media that the president’s going to pull me aside and ask me to do something illegal is completely a false narrative, not true, will not happen and hasn’t happened,” he said.
His remarks drew sharp criticism from legal scholars and commentators. University of Michigan law professor Barb McQuade called his position “an appalling departure” from the Justice Department’s post-Watergate mission. She wrote on social media that the department “as we once knew it, is no more.” McQuade added that Blanche had turned it into “Trump’s private law firm.”
The Senate narrowly confirmed Blanche in a 50-49 vote, with all Democrats opposing his nomination. He replaced Pam Bondi, whom Trump dismissed over frustration with insufficient action against political opponents. Blanche previously served as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer during his New York felony trial.
During the same interview, Blanche defended Trump’s pardoning of roughly 1,500 Capitol attack participants. “That is the president’s right,” he stated. He declined to say whether pardoned attackers might receive federal government settlements. Blanche also confirmed the Justice Department would continue pursuing election integrity efforts despite over 20 consecutive court defeats.
Originally reported by Vritti Johar on Mandatory.
