Blanche Won’t Promise Full DOJ Independence as Trump Influence Looms
Newly confirmed US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would not promise the Justice Department would always act independently
Newly confirmed US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he would not promise the Justice Department would always act independently of the White House. The remark puts fresh attention on how far President Donald Trump’s views could reach into prosecutions.
Trump’s views can be considered
Blanche said he would take the president’s views into account when weighing cases. He also rejected the idea that he should sign up to a blanket pledge of independence from the White House.
“No, I’m not going to pledge that,” Blanche said in the Aug. 16 interview with Kristen Welker. “And no attorney general should ever pledge that,” he added.
Short. Direct. Loaded.
Blanche, who was confirmed only days earlier, argued that saying the Justice Department must always act apart from the White House would go too far. He suggested the president’s direction could matter in at least some prosecutions, while insisting Trump has never asked him to cross an ethical or legal line.
A break from the usual DOJ line
The Justice Department has long said it operates independently from the White House, a norm that hardened after Watergate and Richard Nixon’s resignation. Blanche’s comments land squarely against that backdrop.
Since returning to office, Trump has already overseen sweeping changes at the department, including the firing of dozens of officials and the departure of thousands of lawyers, according to reports cited in the sourced material. Critics say the department has increasingly been used to target the president’s political opponents.
Blanche, who once served as Trump’s personal defense attorney, tried to draw a line between political direction and misconduct. He said he would “act with integrity” and prosecute “without fear or any sort of favor.”
Asked whether he would refuse a request from Trump that crossed an ethical or legal boundary, Blanche did not give a direct pledge. Instead, he said Trump would “never” ask him to do something unethical or illegal and called the suggestion a “false narrative.”
Pressure on the Justice Department
The interview is likely to intensify scrutiny of how the new attorney general handles cases that touch the White House. Blanche’s answer leaves open a question that has become central to the department’s standing at home and abroad: how independent can a prosecutor be when the president’s views are explicitly part of the equation?
That tension is now the backdrop for Blanche’s early months on the job. The next test will come fast.
