Attorney General Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump’s former personal defense lawyer, declined on Sunday to vow independence from White House control.
When asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” if he could pledge to always act independently of Trump and the White House, Blanche replied, “No, I’m not going to pledge that. And no attorney general should ever pledge that.”
“There’s a big difference between saying we will always do our job and investigate any case and act independently of the White House,” Blanche said.
The newly confirmed attorney general insisted Trump has never asked him to act unethically or illegally. “The president will never ask me to do something unethical or illegal. He never has, he never will,” Blanche said.
“There is this extraordinarily false narrative that the president wakes up in the morning and calls me and says, ‘Todd, go prosecute X or Y.’ He does not do that,” Blanche added. “He has never done that. He will never do that.”
The Justice Department under Blanche and his predecessor, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, has repeatedly sought to prosecute Trump’s perceived political enemies, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey, often under direct pressure from the president.
During Blanche’s tense confirmation process, Democratic and Republican senators alike expressed concerns about whether the nominee could further erode the Justice Department’s independence.
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