US attorney general Todd Blanche on Sunday declined to assure that the federal justice department he helms would always act independently of the White House and Donald Trump.

“No, I’m not going to pledge that,” he said when asked about the topic by NBC’s Meet the Press host, Kristen Welker. “And no attorney general should ever pledge that.”

Blanche also claimed Trump would never ask him to do something that crosses an ethical or legal line – after the president dismissed his predecessor, Pam Bondi, having become frustrated over insufficient action from the justice department against Trump’s political foes.

  • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    12 hours ago

    “And so, 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.”

    “Trust me bro.”

    In April, Blanche said he would tell Trump, “I love you, sir,” if the president decided to fire him and nominate someone else to replace Bondi.

    So what’s this guy’s deal? Sounds like a fucking clown.

    • Mirshe@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      3 hours ago

      Blanche is literally Trump’s lawyer and has been for years. That’s his deal - he knows how to kiss his ass just right, and doesn’t really mind that it makes him sound like a sycophantic empty-minded toady just reaching for that next rung on the ladder.

  • artyom@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    22
    ·
    14 hours ago

    I mean AG is part of the executive branch, so I wouldn’t expect them to, regardless of President.

    • raze2012@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      6 hours ago

      For those who do not know history; it was once a huge scandal for Clinton to be seen talking with the AG. 16 years after he was president. Those so concerned about “her emails” would know this well.

      And that’s not even going into “Nannygate” if you want a small rabbit hole to go down. A very tame controversy that would be cast off as a “nothing burger” today as I’m sure Trump’s cabinet have had controversies every other day at this point.

      This is all to say that: no, this is not normal. It is not normal for the DoJ to be so closely affiliated with the executive branch. And watch the hypocrisy when the US magically rememberes this after Trump leaves.

      • artyom@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        6 hours ago

        I mean just because Republicans made it into a scandal doesn’t mean there was anything improper about it. I would expect if a President had a legitimate concern that they would voice that concern to the AG to investigate. And that the AG would follow up on it.

        “Acting independently” can mean a lot of different things in different contexts and promising not to ever do it would just get them in hot water later down the road.

        • raze2012@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          5 hours ago

          . I would expect if a President had a legitimate concern that they would voice that concern to the AG to investigate

          Yes. The branches communicate with each other, but ultimately work independently except for very specific sync points. Or if one branch needs to check and balance another.

          That is very different from meeting up with an AG for a private meeting. Let alone the conflict of Interest of being the president’s personal lawyer. This isn’t normal.

          promising not to ever do it would just get them in hot water later down the road.

          Yes, I’m sure it will for Todd. Much later than I wish, but later down the road indeed.

          • dreamkeeper@literature.cafe
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            3 hours ago

            The DOJ is not an independent branch though. It’s part of the executive branch. At this point I think law enforcement probably should be an entirely separate 4th branch, or made part of the judicial branch, but that’s not how the Constitution is written.

            To me this is one of the biggest flaws of the constitution. It gives the president too much power. There was never anything but decorum and precedent making the DOJ independent of the president, and even then it was incredibly weak since all the most powerful people in the DOJ are appointed by the president, and can be fired by the president arbitrarily.

          • artyom@piefed.social
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            60 minutes ago

            The branches communicate with each other, but ultimately work independently

            These can be interpreted as contradictory statements. And they’re the same branch. That’s the point.

            That is very different from

            Yes obviously thus situation is improper in many ways, but I was speaking to the specific statement.