Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche gave a chilling message to U.S. attorneys across the country at a press conference Wednesday.
A reporter asked Blanche if he stood by D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s decision to drop the four cases of vandalism over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and what kind of message it would send if President Trump fired Pirro because she determined there wasn’t enough evidence to charge those people.
“Hypothetically, if the president chose to fire a United States attorney, it turns out he’s allowed to do that, because he’s the president of the United States,” Blanche replied. “And by the way, if the president wanted—if President Trump wanted to fire anybody, right, and within his administration, I mean, he understands he has the power to do that. So when he makes a decision about whether to fire a U.S. attorney or anybody else, that’s his.”
Q: What message does it send if Trump fires a US attorney because she determined there was not sufficient evidence to charge four people with a crime?
BLANCHE: If he fires a US attorney, it turns out he’s allowed to do that because he’s the president pic.twitter.com/divyxVxhZf
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 5, 2026
That’s not a ringing endorsement of Pirro, and it shows that Blanche, like Trump, doesn’t believe in federal prosecutors’ independence. If a U.S. attorney is given an order by Trump, they must fall in line regardless of the evidence, Blanche effectively said.
Pirro is either on the verge of being fired, or is on very thin ice after she refused to prosecute the Reflecting Pool vandalism cases. She reportedly got into a shouting match with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Trump in the White House Tuesday over the matter, and the president still insists that the pool was vandalized, citing nonexistent witnesses and video evidence. Every other U.S. attorney around the country is watching what happens to Pirro, because the message from Trump and Blanche is to follow orders, whether they make legal sense or not. Otherwise, you’re fired.
