By The American Tribune | Created at 2026-08-18 11:17:28 | Updated at 2026-08-18 12:06:40
1 hour ago
Attorney General Todd Blanche shut down NBC host Kristen Welker’s attempt to corner him into promising that the Justice Department would operate independently of President Donald Trump. Blanche rejected the premise of her question, explaining that the attorney general cannot pledge to disregard the policy directions of the elected President. He instead promised that federal prosecutors would act with integrity and prosecute cases without fear or favor. When Welker pressed him about potentially receiving an illegal order, Blanche dismissed the scenario as a false narrative pushed by the media and the Left.
The exchange aired Sunday, August 16th, during Blanche’s appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Welker questioned the attorney general about his previous work as Trump’s personal defense attorney and suggested that the relationship raised concerns about the Justice Department’s independence. Blanche responded by drawing a distinction between conducting honest investigations and treating the White House as an something the department must automatically oppose.
Welker began by asking, “You used to be President Trump’s former personal defense attorney. Can you pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House?” Blanche immediately pushed back. “Well, there’s a big difference between saying we will always do our job and investigate any case and act independently of the White House,” he said.
Blanche was sworn in as the 88th attorney general on August 10th. He previously spent nearly 15 years working in different roles at the department, including as an assistant U.S. attorney and supervisor in the Southern District of New York. Blanche told Welker that an attorney general cannot promise complete separation from the White House when the President is constitutionally responsible for leading the Executive Branch.
“No, I’m not going to pledge that, and no attorney general should ever pledge that,” Blanche said. He gave Welker an example involving Trump’s directive to pursue violent criminals. “I mean, if I were to pledge I will be independent of the White House, what that means is that if President Trump says, ‘I want the Department of Justice to go after every violent criminal in this country,’ which is what he has said, what you’re saying to me is I just say, ‘No, sir, not going to do it.’”
Blanche made clear that rejecting Welker’s demands did not mean abandoning ethical standards or giving favorable treatment to those friendly with the administration. “So I will act with integrity. Our prosecutors will act with integrity,” he said. “We will prosecute without fear or any sort of favor, and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing, and that’s what every Department of Justice should do.”
Watch Blanche shut down Welker here:
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Welker shifted to a hypothetical question about what Blanche would do if Trump asked him to cross an ethical or legal boundary. “Well, I guess big picture, if the president asks you to do something that you feel crosses an ethical or legal line, would you do it?” she asked. Blanche rejected the assumption that Trump would make such a demand and pointed to the oath he took upon becoming Attorney General.
“The president will never ask me to do something unethical or illegal,” Blanche responded. “He never has. He never will.” Blanche added that he had sworn an oath to the Constitution, just as every previous Attorney General had done, before confronting the premise behind Welker’s questions. “This narrative that’s mostly pushed by the Left and pushed by the media that the president’s going to pull me aside and ask me to do something illegal is completely a false narrative. Not true. Will not happen, and hasn’t happened.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.
