Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested Sunday he would launch investigations into Democrats on President Donald Trump’s orders, leaving the door open to trying to imprison them depending “on what the crime is and what they’ve done.”
The attorney general’s comments on CNN’s “State of the Union” came one day after Trump said he’d order the Justice Department to look into Democrats’ threats of impeachment “and many other forms of punishment” against certain members of his administration, companies and donors to his ballroom project.
“Over the last several days, we’ve seen the rhetoric even rise up, to the point where before they’re even in power, they’re already talking about investigations and impeachments with no basis, no facts,” Blanche said, specifically citing incoming House Oversight Chair Robert Garcia (D-Calif.).
The attorney general was also asked if he would imprison Democrats, as called for by Trump in a Truth Social post. Blanche hedged his answer, saying it “depends on what the crime is and what they’ve done.”
It’s unclear what crime they would be investigated for. What Blanche repeatedly described across TV networks on Sunday as Democratic threats are investigations planned as part of Congress’ oversight work protected by the Constitution.
Democrats have already talked about potential impeachment proceedings for Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth due to his role in the Iran war, and floated that incoming chief of staff Stephen Miller could be part of any oversight investigations into the Trump administration due to his role overseeing the president’s immigration agenda.
“Lawyer up,” Garcia wrote on X last week. In a statement, House Oversight Democrats wrote that the congressman “has vowed to take on the Trump Crime Family, corporate corruption, DHS and ICE abuses, and the cover-up of the Epstein files.”
Blanche said his job as attorney general is “to defend the administration,” and the Justice Department would “of course” defend Miller if the Oversight Committee tries to investigate him for “whatever Garcia thinks he’s gonna do.”
“I would be very worried if I was a member on that committee,” Blanche said.
The attorney general repeated his role as the administration’s defender on Fox News Sunday, claiming oversight from Democrats is “not the way this country can survive or live.”
“If these threats telling people to lawyer up, if that’s what this new incoming leadership wants to do, we are ready,” Blanche told the network. “If you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It’s me. And we will defend you, we will work hard.”
Also appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Garcia called it “ridiculous” that Blanche is “saying to the American public that somehow he’s going to defend administration officials, when his job is to defend the Constitution and the Department of Justice to be the people’s lawyer.”
“And quite frankly, what Todd Blanche is doing right now is a threat. He is threatening our committee. He’s trying to stop us from doing real oversight,” the congressman said, reminding the attorney general that the Constitution assigns Congress the job of conducting oversight of the executive branch and the administration.
“They can come after us however they want. We’re not going to be intimidated,” Garcia continued. “They’re so thin-skinned. It’s like, guys, relax. We have a job to do, and we’re going to do it aggressively.”