Shortly before Christmas, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” and was asked whether the Justice Department was taking directions from the White House. Blanche, a former defense attorney for Donald Trump, was incredulous.
“No, of course we’re not,” he said.
That exchange came to mind watching JD Vance speak to the White House press corps at Thursday’s briefing, where the vice president said more than he probably intended. The New York Times reported:
Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that the Justice Department would create a high-ranking position with broad authority to investigate fraud across the country that would be ‘run out of the White House’ and answer directly to himself and President Trump.
The assertion by Mr. Vance that he and Mr. Trump intended to exercise direct supervision over a senior Justice Department official was one of the administration’s most brazen efforts to date to toss out the traditional boundaries that have long existed between the White House and investigations conducted by federal law enforcement.
In context, the vice president (who rarely misses an opportunity to condemn immigrants) was talking about a new law enforcement initiative that would prioritize alleged fraud in social insurance programs, stemming from the controversy in Minnesota.
To that end, Vance specifically touted a new assistant attorney general, who the Ohio Republican said would have “all the authority of a special counsel,” who will focus exclusively on fraud investigations and whose work would be “run out of the White House.”
Over the past half-century or so, an important institutional norm took root: The president nominates the attorney general, but for the integrity of the justice system, a firewall between the White House and Main Justice was necessary.
In 2026, that wall has fared about as well as the East Wing of the White House. While Vance’s comments were striking, they are hardly the first indication that the larger thesis is true. On the contrary, Trump spent much of last year firing prosecutors who failed to follow his corrupt directives, installing unqualified partisan loyalists in positions of authority and barking orders to Attorney General Pam Bondi about which of his perceived enemies should face federal law enforcement investigation. As The Wall Street Journal summarized in November, this is a Justice Department for which the president, not the attorney general, “calls the shots.” Vance’s comments at the White House, in other words, added fresh weight to a broader political indictment.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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