Blanche Meets the Sunday Show Test Newly confirmed U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday to discuss his new role at the Justice Department. Host Kristen Welker pressed him on whether the DOJ would always act independently from the White House. It was the kind of Sunday-show question built to sound simple, while carrying enough political baggage to require its own overhead compartment. Blanche did not accept the premise. Asked, “Can you pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House?” he answered, “No, I’m not going to pledge that! And no Attorney General should ever pledge that!” The Dispute Over DOJ Independence Blanche argued that a blanket pledge of independence from the White House would make little sense if the president directed the Justice Department to pursue violent criminals. He said that if President Trump said he wanted the DOJ to go after every violent criminal in the country, the question seemed to imply Blanche should refuse simply because the request came from the White House. His answer was clear: he said he would not do that. Instead, Blanche said, “I will act with integrity. Our prosecutors will act…

A Sacred Memorial Gets Hit With Suds and Paint The World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., was vandalized Thursday with bubbly soap, red and green paint, and graffiti reading “Clean hands Dirty $.” The fountain reportedly filled with suds, turning a place meant for quiet honor into the kind of mess usually reserved for activist theater and underfunded campus art departments. The Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, had said there would be zero tolerance and promised to pursue whoever was responsible. Federal Charges Are Now on the Table Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced that Melissa L. Farris has been arrested and is now in custody. According to Pirro, federal prosecutors are filing two felony charges: Depredation Against Property of the United States and Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials. If Farris is convicted on both charges, she faces penalties of up to 10 years in prison. That is a serious legal bill for what prosecutors describe as vandalism of a national memorial honoring Americans who fought in World War II. Pirro Posts the Alleged Evidence Pirro also shared two photos in her post on X, one showing Farris wearing sunglasses and looking…