Topline
Attorney General Todd Blanche refused to pledge the Justice Department would act independently from the White House, telling “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker he would take President Donald Trump’s direction into account, but also promising the president would “never” ask him to cross an ethical or legal boundary.
In a “Meet the Press” interview on Sunday, Blanche promised the Justice Department would “act with integrity” under his leadership.
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Key Facts
The recently confirmed attorney general, who previously was Trump’s personal defense attorney, claimed in a convoluted example that pledging independence from the White House would mean denying the president if he requested the Justice Department to “go after every violent criminal in this country.”
Blanche instead promised to “act with integrity” and will “prosecute without fear or any sort of favor.”
When asked if he would refuse a request from Trump that crosses an ethical or legal line, Blanche only insisted “the president would never ask me to do something unethical or illegal, he never has, he never will,” calling the idea a “false narrative.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“There’s a big difference between saying ‘we will always do our job and investigate any case and act independently of the White House’—no, I’m not going to pledge that, and no attorney general should ever pledge that,” Blanche told Welker in an interview on Sunday morning.