{"id":2609813,"date":"2026-06-02T20:27:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:27:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blanche-says-garland-didnt-own-up-to-involvement-in-trump-cases\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T20:29:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T00:29:04","slug":"blanche-says-garland-didnt-own-up-to-involvement-in-trump-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blanche-says-garland-didnt-own-up-to-involvement-in-trump-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Blanche says Garland &#8216;didn\u2019t own up&#8217; to involvement in Trump cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fblanche-says-garland-didnt-own-up-to-involvement-in-trump-cases%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2609813&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, speaking on Fox news, argued that former Attorney General merrick Garland was not transparent about his direct involvement in investigations targeting Donald Trump. Blanche said <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >garland personally approved major investigative steps-<\/a>most notably the August 2022 FBI search of Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago residence-and that the problem was not the sign-off itself but the portrayal of a largely \u201chands-off\u201d Biden-Garland approach.<\/p>\n<p>Blanche also reiterated arguments from Trump\u2019s legal team, including that prosecutors had difficulty tying Trump personally to specific alleged handling or retention of classified documents. He noted that federal prosecutors and FBI agents had access to Mar-a-Lago before the search and that Trump agreed to add an extra lock to a records storage area. <\/p>\n<p>In addition, Blanche discussed declassified material related to an FBI examination called \u201cArctic Frost,\u201d which he said Garland helped authorize and which later fed into special counsel Jack Smith\u2019s election-interference case. Blanche also described DOJ discoveries of documents associated with that investigation stored in burn bags, suggesting the circumstances raised questions about whether records may have been intentionally preserved rather than only destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>he referenced related claims by other Trump-aligned figures about burn bags containing materials tied to earlier FBI investigations, including the Crossfire Hurricane probe into alleged Trump-Russia coordination.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/attorney-lin-wood-defends-ag-bill-barr-after-announces-he-is-stepping-down-trump-voters-respond\/\" title=\"Attorney Lin Wood Defends AG Bill Barr After Announces He Is Stepping Down \u2014 Trump Voters Respond\">acting attorney general<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/todd-blanche\/\">Todd Blanche<\/a>, said former Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&#038;rls=en&#038;q=Merrick+Garland+site%3Awashingtonexaminer.com&#038;ie=UTF-8&#038;oe=UTF-8\">Merrick Garland<\/a> failed to be transparent about his role in major investigations targeting Trump, pointing to several pieces of evidence showing Garland personally approved key steps in those investigations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking Tuesday on <em>Hang Out with Sean Hannity<\/em> from Fox News, Blanche <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wMZHAfSQ9vo\">said<\/a> he had no issue with an attorney general signing off on significant investigative actions, including the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=safari&#038;rls=en&#038;q=FBI+site%3Awashingtonexaminer.com&#038;ie=UTF-8&#038;oe=UTF-8\">FBI<\/a>\u2019s August 2022 search of Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago estate during President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joe-biden\/\">Joe Biden<\/a>\u2018s administration.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4590669\/judge-allows-8647-flag-used-protesters\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Judge allows \u201886 47\u2019 flag to be used by protesters<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4586652\/trump-250-pardons-lobbying\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>High-profile convicts lobby for rumored Trump pardons ahead of 250th anniversary<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/4590247\/trump-anti-weaponization-fund-senate-opposition\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump retreats from anti-weaponization fund in rare setback as GOP pushes budget bill<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies during a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 in Washington. (Andrew Harnik\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe problem isn\u2019t that he signed off on it,\u201d Blanche said. \u201cThe problem is that he didn\u2019t own up to being involved in that investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche\u2019s comments came as he discussed findings that were previously released by outgoing Director of National Intelligence <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/tulsi-gabbard\/\">Tulsi Gabbard<\/a>, which he said originated from records uncovered by the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\">Department of Justice<\/a> and shared with her office. The documents showed that Garland <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/758761\/doj-moves-to-unseal-fbis-trump-raid-warrant-ag-garland-announces\/\">personally approved<\/a> the FBI\u2019s August 2022 search of Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago estate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche said he does not view Garland\u2019s approval itself as improper, arguing that attorneys general should be involved in major investigative decisions. But he said, \u201cWhat I do quibble with is the narrative for the past three years that Biden and Garland had a hands-off.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Then-U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland looks on before a meeting with federal, state, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/51-lawmakers-warn-biden-immigration-order-could-make-border-crisis-catastrophic-overnight\/\" title=\"51 Lawmakers Warn Biden Immigration Order Could Make Border Crisis \u2018Catastrophic Overnight\u2019\">local law enforcement officials<\/a> at the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Northern District of Iowa in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. (Nick Rohlman\/The Gazette via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Garland <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/d9\/2023-05\/03.15.23.%20--%20Mar-a-Lago%20Search%20Warrant%20--%20Interim_1_0.pdf\">said<\/a> in August 2022 that he \u201cpersonally approved the decision to seek a search warrant,\u201d other senior Biden administration officials regularly <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/kfoxtv.com\/news\/nation-world\/white-house-refuses-to-comment-on-trump-indictment-president-donald-joe-biden-karine-jean-pierre\">feigned a largely hands-off role<\/a> in Trump-related criminal investigations, despite the direct involvement by the then-attorney general and his subordinates, and notwithstanding <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3025180\/scrutiny-prosecutor-matthew-colangelo-intensifies-trump-conviction\/\">the senior DOJ official who migrated<\/a> to the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s office before the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/4587959\/where-trump-hush-money-appeal-stands-two-years-since-conviction\/\">34 felony count hush money indictment<\/a> came against Trump in early 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche, who served as Trump\u2019s defense attorney in both federal criminal cases and the New York hush money case, also revisited arguments made by the former president\u2019s legal team. He noted that federal prosecutors and FBI agents were granted access to Mar-a-Lago before the search warrant was executed and that Trump complied with a request to add an extra lock to a storage room where records were kept.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe put that in public filings,\u201d Blanche said. \u201cThe president met with them. He said every, what can we do? We\u2019re here to help. You can look anywhere you want to look.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche also argued that prosecutors struggled to directly tie Trump to the alleged retention of specific classified documents, claiming investigators could not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump personally handled or retained particular records at issue in the case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last year, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3862100\/garland-wray-memo-greenlit-arctic-frost-investigation-trump\/\">released a declassified<\/a> FBI <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grassley.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/doj_approval_to_open_arctic_frost.pdf\">memorandum<\/a> showing Garland also approved the opening of \u201cArctic Frost,\u201d a 2022 FBI investigation that later evolved into former special counsel <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/jack-smith\/\">Jack Smith<\/a>\u2019s election interference case against Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The release of the memo, signed by former FBI Director <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/christopher-wray\/\">Christopher Wray<\/a> and endorsed by then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, marked the first public knowledge that the highest officials under Biden authorized a full FBI investigation based largely on public reporting and statements related to efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. The inquiry ultimately served as a foundation for Smith\u2019s federal election case.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche also revealed that DOJ officials discovered a room containing materials from the Arctic Frost investigation stored in burn bags. While burn bags are routinely used to destroy sensitive government documents, Blanche suggested the circumstances surrounding the discovery indicated someone may have intentionally preserved the records.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s not the existence of a burn bag that I think is interesting,\u201d Blanche said. \u201cThis one was in a place where I get the point that an honorable FBI agent might have left it there \u2026 but it looked almost intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/in_focus\/4587959\/where-trump-hush-money-appeal-stands-two-years-since-conviction\/\">WHERE TRUMP\u2019S HUSH MONEY APPEAL STANDS TWO YEARS POST CONVICTION<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The disclosure <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4546253\/dan-bongino-fbi-scared-prison-hannity\/\">resembled prior comments<\/a> made last year by FBI Director <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/kash-patel\/\">Kash Patel<\/a> and former Deputy Director <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/dan-bongino\/\">Dan Bongino<\/a>, who said investigators had uncovered caches of records tied to the FBI\u2019s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, including documents found inside burn bags that they argued raised new questions about the origins of the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-russia-investigation\">Trump-Russia inquiry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crossfire Hurricane was the FBI\u2019s investigation into possible coordination between Trump\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. In July last year, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/investigations\/3482784\/russiagate-definitive-timeline-how-new-intelligence-documents-fit-in\/\">Gabbard revealed<\/a> that Obama administration officials promoted a narrative about Russian interference in the 2016 election despite intelligence information that she said undermined those claims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Todd Blanche accused Merrick Garland of hiding his role in Trump investigations, citing evidence Garland personally approved key steps<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2609814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP21132577101443-e1759345223908.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[25914,4733,10151,5894,44625],"class_list":["post-2609813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-blanche","tag-court","tag-garland","tag-politics","tag-trump-cases"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP21132577101443-e1759345223908.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2609813"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2609817,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2609813\/revisions\/2609817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2609814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2609813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2609813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2609813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}