Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks as Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), listen during an event at the FBI Field Office in Kansas City, U.S., September 14, 2026. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS
Attorney General Todd Blanche's announced event at the White House on Tuesday stunned a panel of legal experts.
Blanche is supposed to hold a briefing in the Rose Garden at the White House on Tuesday, a move that Elie Honig, a CNN legal expert, and Andrew McCabe, former deputy FBI director, said had never been done before. They argued that it was a testament to how the Department of Justice has lost any semblance of independence during the Trump administration.
"It's another indicator of the complete lack of independence on the part of the Department of Justice. This is something youwould never have seen in a prioradministration," McCabe said. "It would be verboten."
Jeff Mason, a White House correspondent at Bloomberg, remarked that Blanche being chosen to lead the briefing was "fascinating" because of the timing. It was announced on the same day that the Supreme Court dealt yet another devastating blow to President Donald Trump's mail-in ballot scheme, effectively preventing it from being implemented before the midterms.
Honig added that the administration's decision to send Blanche out for the briefing was "crazy."
"Itis crazy for the attorneygeneral to be giving a White House briefing!" Honig said. "One question heshould be asked tomorrow is, 'Will you comply with the Supreme Court's order that came down last night?'"