Attorney General Todd Blanche had no patience for the media’s latest made-up controversy. A reporter tried to get him to say he would prosecute people who defy congressional subpoenas, even though nobody is defying one.
“Wait, so you just say the vice president says, of course we’re going to comply with the subpoena, and then ask me if I’m going to prosecute somebody who doesn’t,” Blanche said. “I have no idea what the facts are around that. I mean, you’re talking about hypothetical after hypothetical.”
He was clear on the law. “If a crime has been committed, yes, of course we will investigate it.” When the reporter kept pushing, Blanche turned it around: “Who’s defying a subpoena? Who’s defying a subpoena?”
“Of course we comply with subpoenas, as we always have. Of course,” he said. Then he asked the press to name one case. “Is there any subpoena you can identify in this administration that we haven’t complied with? Any allegation or any contempt of Congress finding? No, no, of course not.”
“So I very much agree with the vice president,” Blanche said. The Justice Department follows the law. The only thing defying the facts was the question.
