Trump’s Attorney General Refuses DOJ Independence Pledge

By Staff, Agencies

US Attorney General Todd Blanche has refused to pledge that the Justice Department will operate independently of the White House and President Donald Trump.

Asked on NBC’s Meet the Press whether he would make such a commitment, Blanche replied, “No, I’m not going to pledge that,” arguing that no attorney general should make such a promise. He nevertheless claimed Trump would never ask him to violate ethical or legal standards.

Blanche’s remarks came after Trump dismissed his predecessor, Pam Bondi, amid frustration over what he viewed as insufficient action against his political opponents.

Blanche rejected claims that Trump could pressure him to break the law, saying he had sworn to uphold the US Constitution.

His refusal to guarantee DOJ independence drew criticism from former Justice Department official Barb McQuade, who called the position “an appalling departure” from the department’s post-Watergate mission and accused Blanche of turning it into “Trump’s private law firm.”

Blanche was confirmed as attorney general by the Senate in a narrow 50-49 vote, with every Senate Democrat opposing him. Before taking the post, he served as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer in the New York case that resulted in Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts related to payments to Stormy Daniels.

Blanche has also faced scrutiny over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his defense of the transfer of convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum-security prison.

During Sunday’s interview, he further defended Trump’s pardons of around 1,500 people convicted over the January 2021 Capitol attack, including more than 170 who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers, saying the pardons were within the president’s authority.

Blanche declined to predict whether pardoned defendants could receive federal settlements and said an alleged $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for Trump allies was no longer active.

Meanwhile, Blanche said the Justice Department would continue its “election integrity” efforts despite more than 20 consecutive court defeats in cases seeking voter rolls from states ahead of the November midterm elections.

Blanche’s position leaves Trump’s former personal lawyer as the permanent head of the Justice Department, intensifying concerns over the department’s independence from the White House.