Todd Blanche sides with Jeanine Pirro after Trump’s Reflecting Pool fury

WASHINGTON, DC: Attorney General Todd Blanche defended US Attorney Jeanine Pirro after her office declined to prosecute a Reflecting Pool vandalism case that angered President Donald Trump.

Pirro’s office said “botched” construction work primarily caused damage to the pool’s coating, while Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals without evidence.

Blanche made the comments on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday, August 16, while discussing Pirro’s handling of alleged monument vandalism cases.

Blanche says Pirro deserves a fair judgment

“I absolutely support US Attorney Pirro, as does President Trump,” Blanche said, distinguishing that support from Trump’s frustration with the Reflecting Pool case.

“Now, that’s different than whether the president is extraordinarily frustrated at what happened in that case. And I don’t in any way fault him for that,” Blanche added.

Pirro decided not to prosecute a former Olympian who was initially charged with vandalizing the Reflecting Pool’s lining in front of the Lincoln Memorial. 

Blanche said she was pursuing other vandalism cases and argued that one case should not define her performance.

“And I think judging her on a single case because of the evidence that we had is not fair,” Blanche told the outlet.

Pirro’s office last week charged a Kentucky woman with vandalism after she allegedly sprayed graffiti on the World War II memorial on the National Mall, giving Blanche a specific example of the enforcement he referenced.

AG Todd Blanche leaves room for Trump’s view

Blanche also said he would consider Trump’s position if the president pushed for the Reflecting Pool case to be revived.

“Will I take the president of the United States’ view on something into consideration? Yes, of course,” Blanche said.

He then drew a line between considering Trump’s opinion and automatically following it, saying, “the president does not expect any of his leaders, including me, to just say ‘Yes’ to him no matter what he says.”

Blanche defends DOJ privilege opinion

Sunday on Fox News, Blanche also pushed back on criticism of a Justice Department opinion concerning executive privilege for communications between the president and private advisers outside government. 

He said the opinion was “just clarifying” an existing position from the department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) and rejected the characterization that it created a new legal theory.

“And this was not some new legal theory, like some on the left are saying,” Blanche said, adding that there are circumstances in which advice from an unpaid outside adviser “should absolutely be privileged.”

The OLC opinion said the privilege is not absolute and applies only to certain communications made in the performance of presidential responsibilities, in the president’s office and while shaping policies or making decisions.

Blanche also reiterated that the proposed “anti-weaponization” fund is dead after he sought to distance himself from the controversial fund earlier in the week.