Attorney General Todd Blanche joined Miranda Devine on her Pod Force One podcast on Wednesday for a conversation that touched on the Justice Department’s ties to the White House. He pushed back on the idea that the department operates with full separation from the administration. Blanche said people often treat independence as a given, but he does not share that view.
The discussion turned to how the Biden-era Justice Department handled the January 6 Capitol cases under Attorney General Merrick Garland. Blanche described the investigation as a major commitment of resources that left other issues with less attention. He pointed to the decision to pursue charges against people who were only present in the area.
Devine remarked that it amounted to “the largest investigation in FBI history for really a riot.” Blanche said officials filed multiple misdemeanor counts in many of those cases. He argued that the choice to concentrate manpower and money there meant less focus elsewhere.
Blanche says White House direction shaped prior January 6 prosecutions
Blanche told Devine the earlier approach was a clear resource decision. “By choosing to do that and spend all your money, effort, manpower on that incident, you’re not focusing on the violent crime, the fraud, the illegal immigration, the criminals roaming the streets of our cities,” he said. He noted that the current department is not taking the same path.
When Devine asked whether he has a grasp of the office Garland once occupied, Blanche said yes. She then inquired about the reasons behind the prior charging strategy and whether deputies such as Lisa Monaco were involved. Blanche responded that he believed both Garland and his deputies played a part, along with the White House.
“I think it was both, but I also think it was the White House. So there was this misperception that there’s this separation and independence between the Department of Justice and the White House, and everybody likes to champion that, and they accuse me of not suffering from independence. I don’t. I work for President Trump,” Blanche said.
He added that the previous team operated under the same reality. Previously, Blanche had also addressed whether he would refuse illegal orders from the president.
Blanche stated that Garland did not act alone or free of direction from the Biden administration. “So this idea that Garland was just on his own, making decisions independent of what the Biden administration wanted him to do is not true,” he said. He clarified that his objection was not to the involvement itself.
“What I’m being critical of is the lie that he was independent. He wasn’t,” Blanche said. He explained that the White House sought the actions Garland took and that Garland carried them out. Blanche then described the reach of the agencies under the department’s umbrella.
He listed the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, the FBI, DEA, Marshals, ATF, and DHS as holding substantial authority. Blanche said that authority should go toward making every community safer than it was the week before. He said he gives that direction to every prosecutor and agent he meets with.
Blanche added that he was not sure the same priority was expressed often under the last administration. The remarks came as he contrasted the current department’s stated goals with the resource allocations he described from the Garland period.
Published: Oct 22, 2026 07:00 am