US Attorney General refused to promise that the department would be independent of Trump

US Attorney General Todd Blanche refused on Sunday to pledge on NBC’s Meet the Press that the Justice Department would always act independently of the White House and Donald Trump.

The comments, reported by The Guardian, came as host Kristen Welker asked whether the department he leads would always act independently of Trump. “No, I’m not going to pledge that. And no attorney general should ever pledge that,” Blanche said. He added: “The president will never ask me to do something unethical or legal or illegal. He never has. He never will.”

Blanche said he had sworn to the constitution, as cabinet secretaries and previous attorneys general had done. Trump dismissed Blanche’s predecessor, Pam Bondi, after becoming frustrated over insufficient action by the Justice Department against his political foes. Blanche was confirmed days earlier by the US Senate in a 50-49 vote to succeed Bondi, with all Democrats voting against him.

Blanche previously served as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer when a New York state jury convicted Trump between his two presidencies on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected to payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. In April, Blanche said he would tell Trump, “I love you, sir,” if Trump decided to fire him and nominate someone else to replace Bondi.

University of Michigan law professor Barb McQuade wrote on social media that Blanche’s position was “an appalling departure” from the Justice Department’s mission after Watergate. The department, “as we once knew it, is no more”, she wrote, adding: “Blanche has turned it into Trump’s private law firm. What a complete disgrace.”

Blanche also defended Trump’s pardons for 1,500 supporters convicted of attacking the US Capitol in early 2021, including more than 170 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers. “I’m not opining or in any way saying what President Trump did was wrong. That is the president’s right,” he said. He declined to say whether pardoned Capitol attackers might receive federal settlements, saying anyone can file a claim against the government and that he would not address possible litigation payouts on a news program.

Blanche has continued to face scrutiny over his handling of the so-called Epstein files and the treatment of people victimized by Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking network. In December, he defended moving Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted child sexual trafficker and Epstein associate, to a minimum-security prison. Blanche also affirmed that the Justice Department would not drop “election integrity” efforts tied to more than 20 consecutive court defeats over attempts to force states to turn over voter rolls before the November midterm elections.