Attorney General Todd Blanche has refused to pledge that the Justice Department (DOJ) would always act independently of the White House, asserting that the agency must be able to pursue lawful presidential policy priorities.
"No, I’m not going to pledge that. And no attorney general should ever pledge that," Blanche stated Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." He distinguished between lawful presidential direction, such as targeting violent criminals, and political interference in specific cases.
"If President Trump says, ‘I want the Department of Justice to go after every violent criminal in this country,’ which is what he has said, what you’re saying to me is I should say, ‘No, sir, I’m not going to do it,’" Blanche explained, referencing the DOJ's internal guidelines. These guidelines permit White House and DOJ coordination on policy matters unrelated to ongoing cases but limit contact on cases to senior officials to safeguard enforcement decisions from partisan influence.
Blanche's remarks follow a similar exchange during his July confirmation hearing when questioned by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., about the DOJ's independence. "The Department of Justice, like every single Department in the executive [branch], is part of the executive," Blanche said at the time.
When pressed by NBC's Kristen Welker on whether he would follow an unethical or illegal directive, Blanche rejected the premise, stating that President Trump had never made such a request and would not in the future. "He never has. He never will," Blanche asserted. "I swore to the Constitution of the United States like every cabinet secretary has done and like every attorney general before me has done."
Blanche's confirmation faced opposition from some Republicans who raised concerns about the DOJ's independence. Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, joined all Senate Democrats in voting against his nomination, with Collins citing actions that "further eroded the Department’s independence."
In his first address to DOJ employees as attorney general, Blanche promised fair and impartial enforcement. "I promise you that I will lead this department with integrity," he said. "I promise you that I will focus on our core mission, which is to uphold the rule of law fairly and impartially."
Discussions surrounding the DOJ's independence have also touched upon past investigations, including the handling of classified records found at Mar-a-Lago. FBI records released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley indicated differing views within the Washington Field Office and the DOJ's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section regarding probable cause for a search warrant. A federal magistrate ultimately approved the warrant.
Further FBI communications from May 2022 showed coordination between the DOJ, the White House Counsel’s Office, and the National Archives regarding classified records. These communications involved planning interviews with Trump aide Walt Nauta and executive privilege questions, though they did not explicitly detail a White House directive for the later search. The National Archives confirmed receiving a DOJ-backed request for the FBI to access 15 boxes Trump had returned, but stated they had no prior knowledge of or involvement in the subsequent search.
Blanche has also indicated he would consider Trump's views on individual prosecutions but would ultimately make decisions based on his own judgment, denying that the president directs him to prosecute specific individuals.