Eight Days After Being Sworn In, Attorney General Todd Blanche Refuses to Pledge That the Justice Department Will Act Independently of the White House — "No Attorney General Should Ever Pledge That"

August 16, 2026

In his first Sunday-show interview as attorney general, Todd Blanche was asked by NBC's Kristen Welker on the August 16, 2026 edition of "Meet the Press" whether he could pledge that the Justice Department would always act independently of the White House. He answered: "No, I'm not going to pledge that. And no attorney general should ever pledge that." Blanche went further, saying he would of course weigh President Trump's views in individual prosecution decisions, while insisting that Trump does not call him to order specific prosecutions and would never ask him to do anything unethical or illegal. In the same interview he declared the $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" permanently dead — "There is no fund, there will be no fund" — and said he "absolutely" supports U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, whose handling of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool case Trump had publicly demanded she revisit. The remarks landed eight days after the Senate confirmed Blanche 50-49, with Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski joining every Democrat in opposition over precisely this concern — that Trump's former personal defense lawyer could not separate himself from the president. Post-Watergate norms have generally insulated Justice Department charging decisions from White House direction; Blanche's answer amounted to a public rejection of that convention. Congress was in August recess when he spoke, muting the immediate congressional response.