Blanche Pledges To Defend Every Trump Official After Garcia Tells Administration To ‘Lawyer Up’

Attorney General Todd Blanche says the Department of Justice will “actively” defend members of the Trump administration from investigations and potential impeachment trials after a top congressional Democrat last week warned officials to “lawyer up.” President Trump has called on Mr. Blanche to open criminal investigations into any Democrats who are threatening to investigate Republicans. Speaking to CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mr. Blanche insisted that Justice Department employees will be leading the charge on defending Trump administration officials from subpoenas and other investigative maneuvers by Democrats. Typically, such representation comes from the White House Counsel’s office or outside non-government attorneys. “In every administration, the Department of Justice represents members of the executive [branch] who are brought in front of Congress,” Mr. Blanche said Sunday. “Like I do every day, we represent members of the administration who go in front of Congress.”One of the people Democrats are expected to haul before Congress is the incoming White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, who will officially ascend to his new role on Monday. The top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Congressman Robert Garcia, who issued the two-word statement after the election warning the administration to “LAWYER UP,” has said that Mr. Miller is one of the first people he intends to call before Congress to testify when Democrats take the majority next session. “If they try to come after Stephen Miller … of course, the Department of Justice will be there to defend him just like if they went after any cabinet secretary or any person in government. We do it all the time,” Mr. Blanche said. Mr. Garcia, who followed Mr. Blanche on CNN, accused the attorney general of trying to threaten the committee for conducting its oversight role. He said Mr. Blanche is acting like he is still the president’s personal lawyer, not the head of the Justice Department. “All he wants to do is protect Donald Trump and protect Donald Trump administration officials. That is not his job,” he said. “His job is to defend the Constitution and the Department of Justice to be the people’s lawyer. And he’s anything but that.”Mr. Garcia added that Democrats will neither be intimidated nor halting in their pursuits. “When Republicans go low, what we’re not going to do anymore is just take that, take the high road and turn the other cheek,” Mr. Garcia said. “The days of us not fighting back are over.”Mr. Trump has not only pushed back against the idea of congressional investigations but also is demanding Mr. Blanche’s department open investigations into lawmakers who push for probes. “The threats being made by the Democrat Party against innocent Republican Donors and Party Members are absolutely unprecedented, and totally illegal. Please report them to the Department of Justice, IMMEDIATELY!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. “These SLEAZEBAGS should go to jail for what they are doing.”Asked if criminal investigations were on the table, Mr. Blanche said that is a possibility. “There could be,” Mr. Blanche said. “You are allowed to be critical of President Trump … but when the threats become so vile, so dangerous … at some point, you have to draw the line.”“We have a real problem in this country,” he added.The Justice Department does not typically play the role of the president’s defender as the president has the power to assert executive privilege. Several aides to President Biden were shielded from Oversight Committee interview requests and subpoenas after Mr. Biden claimed executive privilege, though those same aides were forced to testify after Mr. Trump returned to the White House and revoked that privilege. In the past, individuals who are called to testify or provide documents for impeachment probes have been represented by private attorneys. During his first impeachment trial in 2019, Mr. Trump was represented by several former Justice Department employees, though no one employed by the department at the time participated in his defense. As Mr. Blanche vows to defend any Trump administration officials during impeachment proceedings, the first cabinet secretary to stare down that threat is likely to be Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Mr. Hegseth could be impeached as early as this week after a Republican, Congressman Thomas Massie, introduced articles against him in the House.

Blanche Pledges To Defend Every Trump Official After Garcia Tells Administration To ‘Lawyer Up’

Blanche Pledges To Defend Every Trump Official After Garcia Tells Administration To ‘Lawyer Up’

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