‘That’s absolutely not the case’: Todd Blanche pushes back on Trump

WASHINGTON, DC: Attorney General Todd Blanche is pushing back on the perception that President Donald Trump can personally direct him, stressing his new role differs from their past relationship.

Blanche, Trump’s former personal lawyer, said the president does not simply order him to prosecute cases or dictate the Justice Department’s actions.

He made the comments Sunday, August 16, during interviews with Fox News and NBC as he began his second week as attorney general.

Blanche rejects idea Trump dictates prosecutions

“There’s a misnomer about President Trump, which is that he wakes up in the morning, calls me up and says, ‘Todd, go prosecute this,’” Blanche said on ‘Fox News Sunday.’

“That’s absolutely not the case,” he added, directly rejecting the idea that his previous role as Trump’s lawyer means the president personally directs his work at the Justice Department.

Blanche said Trump expects members of his Cabinet to disagree with him when necessary. 

Asked whether he could reject the president’s preferred course of action if his own legal opinion differed, Blanche said, “I think he would expect me to tell him no.”

The comments came as Blanche faces bipartisan scrutiny over his transition from Trump’s personal attorney to the country’s top law enforcement officer.

That scrutiny was reflected in his confirmation vote, when 49 senators, including two Republicans and all Democrats, voted against him. 

Blanche used Sunday’s interviews to push back on concerns that he would blindly follow White House orders. 

Todd Blanche stops short of independence pledge

Blanche did not, however, offer an unconditional pledge that the Justice Department would always act independently of the White House.

On ‘Meet the Press,’ NBC’s Kristen Welker asked whether he would pledge that the department would “always act independently” of the White House.

“No, I’m not going to pledge that,” Blanche said. “And no attorney general should ever pledge that.”

Welker then asked whether Blanche would consider Trump’s opinion if the president believed a particular case should be pursued or revived.

“Yes, of course,” Blanche said. “And I hope every attorney general in history would not answer that question differently.”

The exchange drew a distinction between Blanche’s rejection of direct presidential orders and his acknowledgment that Trump’s views can be considered in Justice Department decisions.

AG says Trump will not ask him to break the law

Blanche also said he would act with integrity and direct his prosecutors to do the same, while maintaining that Trump would not ask him to cross legal or ethical lines.

“The president will never ask me to do something unethical or illegal. He never has. He never will,” Blanche told Welker.

Blanche’s previous role as Trump’s personal attorney has remained central to scrutiny of his new position.