AG Blanche Refuses to Pledge DOJ Independence From Trump
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Blanche openly admitted he won't pledge DOJ independence and that Trump's personal feelings will factor into prosecutions — a radical break from post-Watergate norms designed to keep federal law enforcement out of presidential hands. Turning the Justice Department into an Oval Office policy desk puts every career prosecutor under political pressure. This is a nakedly weaponized DOJ that answers to one man, not the Constitution.
Republican narrative
Todd Blanche is absolutely right — the Attorney General is a cabinet officer accountable to Article II executive power, not some fourth branch of government the Founders never created. Justice Scalia made this plain in Morrison v. Olson; prosecuting crimes is a quintessentially executive function under the president's full control. Demanding DOJ "independence" from the executive is constitutionally illiterate.
