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.
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.
But 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.
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 personal criminal attorney and represented Trump when he was tried and convicted of fraud in 2024.
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.
“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.’”
