Donald Trump's top officials with the Department of Justice seem to be having trouble keeping their lies straight, according to an analysis from the Bulwark, with at least one prominent figure's understanding of "which lies you can get away with" being undercut by the president's own words.
Writing for the Bulwark on Monday, Will Saletan argued this point by highlighting a recent Meet the Press appearance by Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal attorney turned deputy attorney general. When pressed by host Kristen Welker about whether or not he is in communication with the president about certain criminal cases, Blanche deflected.
"I will never talk about the communications I have with President Trump," Blanche said.
This, Saletan noted, is abnormal for the DOJ, which is supposed to remain independent from the executive branch. He suggested that Blanche did not give the expected to a question referencing Trump's Truth Social post in which he "openly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to indict former FBI Director James Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Leticia James."
"In an ethical administration, the deputy attorney general could have honestly said, 'No, the president doesn’t do such things,'" Saletan said. "Why did Blanche play it safe? Maybe because Welker, by reminding him of what Trump had publicly written, made Blanche think that lying about the pressure campaign would be untenable."
Elsewhere in the interview, Welker brought up veteran federal prosecutor Erik Siebert, who claimed that he was fired from the DOJ for refusing to pursue criminal charges against Comey. Blanche insisted that Siebert was not, in fact, fired, and had instead resigned.
However, as Saletan highlighted, that's another claim that's out of line with the president's own words. In a September Truth Social post, where he said Siebert "didn’t quit, I fired him!" Saletan characterized that as "one of those rare cases in which Truth Social told the truth."
"One problem with lawyering for an overt crook is that it’s hard to keep track of which lies you can get away with, because the crook sometimes blurts out what you’re trying to cover up." Saletan explained.