The Memo: Blanche blasts through norms as Rose Garden ‘press secretary’

An administration that often exhibits ostentatious pride in bursting through norms did so yet again Tuesday afternoon, when Attorney General Todd Blanche took a turn as de facto White House press secretary.

Blanche spoke to reporters in the Rose Garden, mixing together commentary on legal matters, praise of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s prosecution of the Iran war, jabs at the Biden administration, an insistence the United States had to win the AI race and even some careful comments about the recent wedding of Donald Trump Jr.

Blanche also took the time to poke fun at the assembled media — albeit with a demeanor that did not suggest any great mirth on his part.

“I notice you guys are sweating, which is nice. I love to see that,” he said just before taking questions.

“I’m very sorry that you’re sweating. I’m not really sorry,” he said near the end.

The mere fact that Blanche, a former personal lawyer to Trump, now serves as attorney general is exceptional in itself. The attorney general and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have traditionally been seen as without precise parallels elsewhere in government.

The DOJ and its leader have been expected to demonstrate some level of independence from the political wishes of the president they serve. Equally, past presidents have — for the most part — sought to avoid the appearance that they are pushing the DOJ in ways that would erode this perception.

The extent to which such niceties have been truly observed is debatable, to be sure. But it is hard to imagine a banner with the president’s face being unfurled from the DOJ’s Washington headquarters previously, as has been the case during this administration.

Trump, for his part, famously and publicly appealed to Blanche’s predecessor, Pam Bondi, to speed up prosecution of his enemies. He has at various times named other foes he believes should be targeted, only for prosecutors to follow through.

This has led to some embarrassing outcomes — such as when a grand jury declined in February to return indictments against six Democratic lawmakers who had released a video urging U.S. troops not to obey illegal orders.

Trump suggested their actions amounted to “seditious behavior.” The grand jurors didn’t even accept there was a case to answer.

Blanche’s appearance wasn’t even the first transgressive act of the day from within the administration.

FBI Director Kash Patel earlier was asked by lawmakers about the lifting of the bureau’s previous automatic ban on new trainees if they had been found to engage in prostitution or bestiality.

Less luridly, but more controversially, Trump had inveighed against the Supreme Court on social media earlier Tuesday. His anger had been sparked by an adverse ruling the previous evening, in which the high court rejected Trump’s bid to restrict mail-in voting in time for the midterm elections.

Trump’s reaction was to complain that “The Supreme Court has really let our Country down!” and to further insist, “Certain Justices are petrified of these crazed and depraved Democrats, and are totally unable to show the courage necessary to save our America.”

Trump also asserted, in jeering reference to the three justices he nominated during his first term: “These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves.”

The court ruling came in sparse form Monday evening, but Team Trump appeared to have lost 7-2, with none of his three nominees — Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — fully backing him.

Blanche, in the Rose Garden, cast the media storm that immediately followed Trump’s comments as much ado about nothing. He said the administration would “of course” follow the ruling but also continue its efforts to ensure a “fair election.”

“He is very frustrated,” the attorney general said of the president. “He has every right — and indeed he should — communicate his concerns with the Supreme Court whenever he has them.”

Later, Blanche was asked whether, during his time in private practice, he would have advised a client to take on a court in the manner of Trump’s blasts at the Supreme Court. The attorney general rejected the comparison.

“He’s the president of the United States, so the real question is whether the president of the United States is allowed to be critical of another branch of government,” Blanche said. “And the answer to that is: Absolutely, of course he is.”

At times, the attorney general was more circumspect. He largely evaded a question about whether he asked for the resignation of Joe DiGenova, a fervently pro-Trump figure and former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who had been investigating whether there was a “conspiracy” against Trump during previous Democratic administrations.

A separate question about a seeming lack of action following the FBI’s controversial raid on a Fulton County, Ga., election hub in January also elicited little real information.

Still, he was not always so cautious. He alleged that, in a previous incarnation, the FBI had sought to put Trump “in prison till he dies.”

Pressed on questions around the ethics of a Russian oligarch paying for some of the wedding celebrations for Donald Trump Jr. and his new wife, Bettina, in May, Blanche shot back to a reporter: “When you say, ‘Am I investigating,’ am I investigating what? And when you say this person is a friend of Putin, I don’t even know if that’s true or not.”

The person in question, Umar Kremlev, had been bestowed a state honor by Putin, according to investigative website ProPublica, which broke the story.

Elsewhere, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer provided praise for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who he said was doing a “phenomenal job”; and for former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who Blanche praised for her handling of the job he was trying to fill, at least for about 35 minutes.

“She’s a lot better than me,” the attorney general said.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage.