USA · 16 August, 2026 · 2 min read
Todd Blanche Refuses to Pledge Justice Department Independence From the White House
Blanche declined to pledge DOJ independence from the White House. He said he would consider the president's views when making decisions.
Blanche’s stance on taking Trump’s views into account in prosecutions.
9 of 10 outlets skipped it: blanche said the anti-weaponisation fund is dead and not returning.
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Common Dreams
“If I were to pledge I will be independent of the White House, what that means is that if President Trump says, 'I want the Department of Justice to go after every violent criminal in this country,'”Read the original ↗
One frames it as normal discretion; another treats it as implied deference.
Blanche dodges full independence
Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to pledge that the Justice Department would always act independently of the White House, telling NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press,” “No, I’m not going to pledge that, and no attorney general should ever pledge that.”
“No, I’m not going to pledge that, and no attorney general should ever pledge that”
Blanche said Trump has “not and never will” ask him to cross a legal or ethical line, and he argued the Justice Department will “prosecute without fear or any sort of favor.”
In the same interview, Blanche suggested he would take the president’s views into account in individual prosecution decisions, saying, “Will I take the president of the United States’ view on something into consideration? Yes, of course.”
Blanche’s remarks came as critics raised concerns that the DOJ could be carrying out President Donald Trump’s political agenda, including amid indictments or attempted indictments involving former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Reflecting Pool and election fights
Blanche declined to say whether DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro should revisit the Reflecting Pool vandalism case that the US Attorney for the District of Columbia recently dismissed, but he said, “I absolutely support US attorney Pirro, as does President Trump.”
On “Meet the Press,” Blanche also defended the idea that Trump’s priorities can be considered, saying, “There’s a big difference between saying we will always do our job and investigate any case and act independently of the White House.”
For election integrity, Blanche told NBC the administration may ask the Supreme Court to decide on efforts to obtain voter rolls from states ahead of this year’s midterms, and he said, “Absolutely, it’s a possibility.”
The Justice Department has sued roughly 30 states that refused to open their voter rolls to administration scrutiny, but has frequently lost in court, according to CNN’s account of the litigation.C
Anti-weaponization fund and next steps
Blanche reiterated that Trump’s “anti-weaponization” fund is “dead,” while also saying there are processes for people who believe they were wronged by the federal government to seek compensation.
“Well, anybody can file a claim against the federal government, not just anybody associated with January 6”
He declined to guarantee that compensation would not include January 6, 2021, rioters, saying, “Well, anybody can file a claim against the federal government, not just anybody associated with January 6.”
The Justice Department formally rescinded the “anti-weaponization” fund that would have benefitted those who claimed they were mistreated by the federal government after it threatened to imperil Blanche’s confirmation, CNN reported.C
Blanche’s comments also came amid questions about how the DOJ would navigate Trump’s public statements on prosecutions and his pardons for people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, with Straight Arrow quoting Blanche on the separation between prosecutorial decisions and presidential pardons.