On day one of his confirmation, Blanche wrestles with questions of DOJ independence, indicating we soon will see Trump acting as president and prosecutor

(MS NOW)

During day one of his confirmation hearing yesterday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche struggled with questions about independence of the Department of Justice (DOJ) from the Trump White House. Those answers should not have been hard to answer given that acting independently of the president long has been the U.S. norm. In fact, the DOJ's own Justice Manual states as much in clear language -- and Blanche should know that, given that he is asking the U.S. Senate to confirm him as our nation's next full-fledged attorney general.

So why did Blanche seem uncertain about language in the manual that is to guide how his department operates? Sarah Ewall-Wice, a writer at The Daily Beast, pondered that question and concluded that Blanche struggled with independence-related queries because he does not really run the Justice Department; Donald Trump does.

If the Senate confirms Blanche as AG, Americans can expect Trump to issue all manner of directives about who he does and does not want prosecuted -- based almost entirely on who he perceives to be an enemy and who he considers to be a friend. Don't look for the constitutional standard of "probable cause" to be part of the equation, probably because Trump is far more interested in his own grievances than he is the U.S. Constitution. And under that likely series of events, Americans can look for Blanche to go along with anything Trump commands -- as you would expect of any good toady.

Perhaps the most troubling part of this scenario is that it suggests Blanche has no intention of following the DOJ's Justice Manual -- and that Blanche is fine with Trump acting as both president and prosecutor, even though his background (and our nation's recent history) tell us he is not fit to do either. Should this disqualify Blanche to be AG? My answer is yes. Will Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee agree with me? Probably not. (We will have more on the precise language in the DOJ Justice Manual in a moment.)

Sarah Ewall-Wice considers weighty issues connected to all of this under the headline "Todd Blanche admits sinister truth of who really runs Justice; the acting attorney general made the dramatic revelation during his confirmation hearing." Ewall-Wice writes:

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the quiet part out loud on Wednesday in two jaw-dropping admissions as he was grilled about the independence of the Justice Department.

Blanche, who previously served as President Donald Trump’s personal criminal attorney, was appearing on Capitol Hill for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee as he seeks to fill the top spot at DOJ permanently.

It comes as critics of the president have sounded the alarm about Trump weaponizing the Justice Department against his perceived political enemies since returning to office. 

For anyone paying attention to the confirmation hearing -- and Ewall-Wice was --  it should have been apparent that critics' concerns about Trump's weaponization were well-founded. In fact, Blanche's own words indicate weaponization was going on while he served as deputy AG and acting AG -- and almost certainly will continue if he is confirmed as AG. Ewall-Wice makes it clear that's not how things are supposed to work:

The department is supposed to operate independently of political influences on investigations and prosecutorial decisions. In the past, even the suggestion of White House influence was seen as scandalous.

But Blanche sang a completely different tune when asked about DOJ’s independence by Sen. Chris Coons on Wednesday.

“Is the Department of Justice that you are running independent from the White House?” the Delaware Democrat asked.

Blanche did not try to confirm or emphasize the independence of the Justice Department while under oath.

“The Department of Justice, like every single department in the executive, is part of the executive. I mean, Article II of the Constitution gives the power of the executive to President Trump,” Blanche said.

The acting attorney general went on to claim that the department operates “with integrity.”

“We certainly operate in the single mindset to serve the American people and do the right thing,” Blanche added. 

You will notice that Blanche's answer had little to do with the question put to him. That's a sure sign of obfuscation -- not what you want to see from someone testifying under oath before Congress. Blanche proceeded to meander down an even more tangled path, Ewall-Wice reports:

Blanche said that if he is confirmed, he would be “a member of the Cabinet” and noted that Trump could fire him whenever the president wants.

“We all serve at the pleasure of President Trump in this administration,” Blanche said.

Coons observed that he believed Blanche was Trump’s nominee to fill the seat after Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired because the president was unhappy with his former attorney general’s ability to secure convictions against perceived political enemies.

“I don’t know,” Blanche responded. 

Blanche might have good reason not to know about that, but he certainly should know about language in the DOJ Justice Manual on the subject of independence from the White House. Let's take a look at it,  straight from Section 8-1.600 -- Communication with the White House:

In order to promote and protect the norms of Departmental independence and integrity in making decisions regarding criminal and civil law enforcement, while at the same time preserving the President’s ability to perform his constitutional obligation to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” the Justice Department will not advise the White House concerning pending or contemplated criminal or civil law enforcement investigations or cases unless doing so is important for the performance of the President’s duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective.

That seems straightforward enough. The second round of Blanche's hearing comes today, and it would be interesting if someone were to ask Blanche if he is familiar with the above section of the Justice Manual and if he intends to abide by it. The American people need, and deserve, an answer to that question.

Blanche came into the hearing on the heels of a New York Times report that indicates he already was essentially acting as Trump's personal attorney -- an apparent violation of his oath of office. Ewall-Wice writes:

The day before Blanche’s Senate confirmation hearing, The New York Times revealed Blanche has been spearheading the president’s retribution campaign within the Justice Department.

Blanche was nominated and confirmed as Trump’s deputy attorney general after Trump was elected for a second term. Before that, Blanche worked as a criminal-defense attorney and represented Trump when he was tried and convicted of fraud in 2024. (Blanche served as a federal prosecutor for eight years before going into private practice and later becoming Trump's personal attorney.)

During his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Blanche was repeatedly accused by Democrats of acting as Trump’s personal attorney while serving in the role of acting attorney general rather than as the top law enforcement officer of the U.S. beholden to the Constitution.

Blanche did nothing to relieve them of their concerns or reject the accusation on Wednesday, and even let his views on his relationship with Trump slip in another revealing exchange with Republican Sen. John Kennedy (adding a touch of unintended humor to the proceedings.)

“Are you and President Trump friends?” Kennedy asked.

“I’m his lawyer,” Blanche responded without missing a beat.

“Was his lawyer—and now I’m the deputy attorney general," Blanche quickly amended, but it was already out there.

“I met him as his criminal defense attorney. I’m not sure that there’s very many people who’ve ever had a criminal defense attorney who calls that person their friend,” Blanche said.

But as Ranking Member Dick Durbin pointed out in his opening statement at the start of the hearing, Blanche has previously declared publicly on camera his loyalty to Trump.

At a press conference in April, Blanche said even if Trump nominated someone else to be attorney general, his message to the president would be “I will say, ‘Thank you very much. I love you, sir.’”