Newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche rejected NBC host Kristen Welker's request Sunday on "Meet the Press" that he pledge the Justice Department (DOJ) would always act independently of the White House, arguing the agency must remain able to carry out lawful presidential policy priorities.
"No, I’m not going to pledge that. And no attorney general should ever pledge that," Blanche said.
Blanche used President Donald Trump’s directive to target violent criminals to distinguish lawful presidential direction from political interference in an individual case.
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"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 said.
According to the Justice Manual, the department's own rules draw the distinction Blanche described. They permit coordination between the White House and DOJ on policy matters unrelated to pending cases, while limiting contacts about cases to senior officials to protect enforcement decisions from partisan or improper influence.
Blanche also gave a similar answer when Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., asked whether the Justice Department was independent from the White House during his confirmation hearing in July.
"The Department of Justice, like every single Department in the executive [branch], is part of the executive," Blanche said.
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The Justice Department pointed Fox News Digital on Sunday to a post from Emily Covington, director of DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs, in response to questions about Welker’s exchange with Blanche. NBC News and the White House did not immediately respond.
"DOJ is part of the executive branch. Are you suggesting that the focus of the Department should not align with the policy goals of the President, who was elected by the American people? Elected because the people voted for the priorities of that President," Covington said.
Welker followed Blanche's explanation by asking whether he would comply if Trump directed him to cross an ethical or legal line. Blanche rejected the premise and pointed to his constitutional oath.
"He never has. He never will," Blanche said. "I swore to the Constitution of the United States like every cabinet secretary has done and like every attorney general before me has done."
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DOJ separately told Fox News Digital that Blanche had addressed the issue publicly and raised the Biden-era investigation into classified records at Mar-a-Lago.
"The AG has addressed this at length publicly," a DOJ spokesperson said.
FBI records released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley showed officials in the Washington Field Office said they had not established probable cause for a search warrant and favored seeking Trump’s cooperation through a consensual search. The DOJ’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section maintained that probable cause existed and pressed forward with the warrant. A federal magistrate approved the warrant before the August 2022 search.
A separate May 2022 FBI communication showed coordination among DOJ, the White House Counsel’s Office and the National Archives during the classified-records investigation. Plans to interview Trump aide Walt Nauta depended on the timing of a Biden briefing and coordination between White House Counsel and DOJ. The publicly reported excerpt concerned the Nauta interview and executive-privilege questions, rather than an explicit White House directive to conduct the later search.
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The National Archives said the White House transmitted a DOJ-backed statutory request for the FBI to access 15 boxes Trump had returned, but distinguished that process from the later search and said NARA had no prior knowledge of or involvement in it.
Blanche later said he would consider Trump's views on an individual prosecution but would stand up for what he believed was right. He also denied that the president directs him to prosecute specific people.
Blanche's confirmation faced opposition as some Senate Republicans demanded that he rescind a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund and narrow IRS audit protections for Trump and his family. Senators Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, ultimately joined every Senate Democrat in opposing his nomination.
"Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation," Collins said.
Blanche sought to reassure DOJ employees during his first workforce address as attorney general Thursday by promising fair and impartial enforcement.
"I promise you that I will lead this department with integrity," Blanche said. "I promise you that I will focus on our core mission, which is to uphold the rule of law fairly and impartially."