Todd Blanche sat down with Meet the Press for his first interview since his confirmation.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is not supposed to represent the President personally, but rather represents the United States government and the presidency as an institution in matters related to official duties. The DOJ is an executive department headed by the Attorney General, who reports directly to the President and is a member of the President’s Cabinet, but its attorneys represent the United States, not the individual holding the office.
But in the interview, Blanche refused to commit to keeping DOJ independent from the president. Why, because there truly is a conflict of interest here. Todd Blanche was Trump’s Criminal Defense Attorney and he is totally loyal to him, and he could never represent the Justice Department independantly without Trump weighing in on any situation he wanted to. He was asked if he would pledge that the Justice Department will act independently of the White House, and this was his response…
“No, I’m not going to pledge that. And no Attorney General should ever pledge that.”
Blanche also confirms that he will take direction from Donald Trump about which cases to prosecute. When asked if he’ll consider the president’s opinions on matters like reviving the failed reflecting pool prosecution, he said…
“Yes, of course”.
Blanche also refused to rule out making payments to January 6 rioters using our tax dollars. He said…
“There are other ways they could be entitled to collect money from our government.”
He also refused to condemn the president’s pardons of the rioters who attacked and injured police officers. He said…
“The president is free to pardon whoever he wants, and as Attorney General, he has no problem with that.”
Then he blatantly says that the DOJ will continue to meddle in elections, even though courts in 22 different states have told them to stop. He said..
“We’re not going to stop doing that.”
He then says..
“Americans should be happy about it.”
The the big lie. He promised that Donald Trump would never ask him to do anything illegal or unethical. He said…
“The president will never ask me to do something unethical or illegal.”
He is TOTALLY beholden to Donald J. Trump. He has no moral compass, and he would not know ethics if they hit him in the face.
Critics and analysts note that while Blanche testified under oath during his confirmation hearing that he would not violate his constitutional oath if such a request occurred, his recent assertions imply that the administration considers the concept of Trump making an unethical demand to be “self-evidently absurd.”
Who are we kidding here? Trump has the exact man as his Attorney General now, knowing that he will do anything that the president wants him to, especially to try and prosecute his political enemies.
Blanche acknowledged he would “of course” take the president’s views into consideration regarding prosecutions, arguing that no attorney general should pledge total independence from the White House.
Critics, including legal scholars and political opponents, argue that Blanche’s refusal to pledge independence marks a departure from the post-Nixon era standards that sought to insulate prosecutorial decisions from political pressure.