Blanche FIRES BACK at Dems over Trump probes: 'WE ARE READY'

[0:00] A new Congress means new leadership. Chad Pergram, Fox News chief congressional correspondent joins [0:04] me for the latest on those races on the Hill. Hi, Chad. Good morning, Jillian. Well, around 110 [0:11] incoming freshmen descend on Capitol Hill today for orientation. One of the first orders of [0:17] business is for House Republicans to pick a minority leader. Majority leader Steve Scalise [0:22] is up against Jim Jordan of Ohio. Both lost a bid for speaker three years ago. It's a secret ballot [0:29] on Tuesday. We're going to reposition ourselves to reclaim the House majority. We don't know how [0:35] these votes are going to end up, but I'm confident that we're going to have the right people leading [0:38] our Republican conference to take back the majority. There are eight Democratic senators [0:43] who have reservations about Chuck Schumer becoming majority leader. It's about the math. Schumer [0:49] only needs around 28 votes to win the majority leader post. A group of Senate Republicans [0:55] want to postpone their leadership elections on Tuesday. Let's sit down and decide what we're [1:02] going to do differently. Then we can decide who's going to be the leader. I don't want to run again. [1:07] I've run twice. However, no one is challenging GOP leader John Thune. You can't beat someone [1:14] with no one. The House takes votes this week to impeach Pete Hegseth. Republican Thomas Massey [1:21] is leading that effort. Some Republicans are mad about the war and the midterms. They could vote [1:26] yes. It's a tough vote. I don't think it's wise, but I am going to listen to the debate and weigh it [1:34] and go from there. I mean, I have not sold yes or no at this point. I do think we need a better [1:40] secretary, but that's different than saying we should do impeachments. Now, a simple majority is [1:46] needed to impeach. If that happens, the Senate could consider impeachment this year. But unlike [1:51] bills, impeachment can carry over into the new Congress. Jillian. All right, Chad, thank you for [1:56] that. We will be closely tracking this over the coming weeks. Good to see you. Likewise. [2:01] So with Democrats about to take the majority on the Hill, incoming committee leaders have already [2:06] promised investigations into the Trump administration. That includes Attorney General [2:10] Todd Blanche, who joins us now. Mr. Attorney General, it's great to see you. Thanks for taking time with us. [2:16] Good morning. How are you? I'm well, sir. Thank you. Some Democrats are now calling this new [2:23] Congress that will get underway in January the lawyer up era. They're threatening, as you well know, [2:30] investigations, subpoenas, potential impeachment articles. Here is President Trump yesterday. He [2:36] writes, the Democrats are going around threatening a lot of people, including the attorney general of the [2:41] United States and others with impeachment and many other forms of punishment. [2:47] even though they admit they have no reason to do so. I am ordering the Department of Justice to look [2:53] into this criminal act immediately. Sir, do you agree with the president that these threats from [2:59] Democrats are potentially criminal acts? And when do you plan to begin your counter-investigation, [3:07] for lack of a better phrase, that the president has now ordered on true social? [3:12] Well, this has been happening for months now. You had a senator threatening college students, [3:20] threatening young people that if they join the Trump administration, they should look forward to [3:24] investigations and having to get lawyers. That is not something we can tolerate in this country. [3:28] And since Tuesday, you've had incoming leaders just do exactly the same thing. They're threatening [3:33] current members of the administration. They're threatening American companies who've invested in [3:39] jobs, invested in manufacturing. And at some point, we have to say enough is enough. You, [3:43] that is not the way this country can survive or live with these ongoing threats, putting aside the [3:49] threats of impeachment and investigations. I mean, this is literally deja vu all over again. [3:54] They've tried this before. It didn't work last time. It's not going to work this time. You have an [3:59] economy that is humming. You have an economy, we just had numbers come out this week with job [4:04] numbers and employment. There are more people working in this country than in its entire history. [4:09] And yet you have incoming leaders doing nothing but talking about going after existing members, [4:14] going after companies. And that's something that as attorney general, we cannot tolerate. [4:19] And so I said, I said on Friday night that if, if these threats telling our people to lawyer up, [4:25] if that's what these, what these new incoming leadership wants to do, we are ready. And all, [4:30] if you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It's me. And we will defend you. We will work [4:35] hard. And they, they have a, let me, it is important that they exercise oversight responsibility, [4:41] that, that Congress exercise oversight responsibility. They are not, they are not allowed to just go [4:46] around threatening existing members of the administration to go around threatening [4:50] companies. And that's what President Trump is, is extremely worried about, [4:53] and he should be. I, I understand, sir, [4:56] that you take, uh, umbrage at the threats, some of which are directed at you personally, [5:01] but isn't there a rather fine dividing line between, uh, not tolerating, as you say, [5:08] these kinds of threats and actually investigating, uh, potentially, uh, launching criminal charges [5:15] against these Democrats? Yes. And it depends on what's said. [5:20] And some of these threats were horrific. For example, a senator threatening people who are still [5:25] in college getting their education, that if they choose to go and work, if they choose to exercise [5:29] their rights to go and work for an administration, that they are going to be investigated. That's a [5:34] threat that should never happen. And so, yes, that President Trump welcomes, welcomes any sort of [5:39] commentary and criticism he always has. But what he is frustrated with, what he is angry about, [5:44] and he should be, is these outright threats to come after people, to investigate people, [5:48] to ruin their lives, to lawyer up. This is something that the Democrats tried four years ago [5:53] with President Trump and his family. It did not work then, and it won't work now. [5:57] One of the things that our Fox, uh, voter polls captured, uh, with, at the exit polls this year, [6:04] sir, uh, was the issue of corruption weighing more heavily in voters' minds. Take a look at this. [6:10] Um, uh, 54 percent of voters nationwide say government corruption factored into their vote. And that [6:19] includes, sir, uh, 50 percent of Republicans who say government corruption was a major factor. We now have [6:26] Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, uh, joining the chorus of criticism. I'd like to get your [6:32] response to his comments. Take a listen. The problem is, is government. Government is [6:38] power, power corrupts, because as long as you have government, you're going to have the corruption [6:42] within government. I'm sad to say within the Trump administration. [6:46] He seems to be saying, sir, one of the president's, you know, long-time allies here, [6:53] that even this administration has not been immune to the pull of political power. [7:02] Well, look, President Trump said recently, and he'll say it anytime you ask him, he expects [7:07] everybody in this administration to do so with the highest ethical standards and following the law. [7:12] I expect the same thing. And so I understand that there are people who have said they believe [7:17] there's some sort of corruption. That's largely because the media and Democrats have just highlighted [7:22] any time there's any sort of success in this country that has to do with anybody associated [7:27] with this administration, they call that corruption. Now, make no mistake, if there is corruption, [7:32] this department will investigate it and will prosecute it. But just because somebody has success, [7:37] just because there's that we see great things happen with this economy, just because there's [7:41] investments in this country, that's not corruption. That's America and what it should be. And so I want to, [7:46] I want to be careful when we talk about government corruption. If there's government corruption, [7:51] the people that are responsible will be prosecuted by this Department of Justice. But that's [7:55] different than a lot of the rhetoric that we're hearing out there from Democrats about what they [8:00] view, what they term as corruption that actually is not corruption, but just an American success story. [8:06] There is widespread reporting now, sir, in the wake of the president's ouster of his chief of staff, [8:11] Susie Wiles, that he has been unhappy with some of her financial maneuverings while serving in the [8:19] White House. Is that something that concerns you? [8:22] I work with chief of staff Wiles every day, not only for the past year and a half, but for many [8:28] years before that. That does not concern me. As President Trump said, chief of staff Wiles is a [8:34] patriot. She has given the last five, six years to President Trump and the American people and this [8:39] administration. She was an outstanding chief of staff. Stephen Miller is going to be an excellent [8:46] chief of staff as well. He's brilliant. He's worked in the White House. He's been right down the [8:51] hall from chief of staff Wiles for the past two years. But no, these, the blind reporting, that's the [8:56] anonymous reporting coming out now about chief of staff Wiles. I know, I know her, I know Susie. [9:01] I work with her every day. Every day she fought for the American people and fought for President [9:06] Trump and a lot of this rhetoric and the stuff that's coming out is absolutely not true because [9:12] I lived it. I was there. If that is the case, sir, do you know why she is being asked to leave the [9:18] administration? No, I mean, look, and I can't, I'm not interested in explaining, you know, why, why [9:24] people said. What I know is that is that chief of staff, that Susie was a phenomenal leader. President [9:29] Trump said that and I saw it every single day. Her partner, Stephen Miller, her deputy chief of [9:34] staff, who's now going to be the chief of staff, will be a phenomenal chief of staff. The reason why [9:38] you saw immediate complaints about Stephen is because it's really fear and they're worried about [9:44] about what's going to happen because he's so good at his job. So I'm excited for what's next for the [9:49] next two years and we're ready to go. To that point, Mr. Attorney General, when it comes to your [9:54] agenda and your policy outlook for the next two years, one of the other things our Fox voter polls [10:02] showed at the exits this year was this swing among largely Hispanic districts across the country [10:09] towards Democrats, particularly in Texas border areas. People cited unhappiness with the, not [10:18] necessarily the immigration crackdown itself, but the way it's being executed. Has any of the [10:24] midterm results given you any pause, sir, to reconsider your approach going forward when it comes to [10:32] immigration? Well, the Department of Justice and all of President Trump's DHS as well as focus on [10:39] making America safe again. And a lot of that means getting out illegal, illegal aliens who should never [10:45] have been in this country in the first place. We have to remember where we were two years ago compared [10:49] to where we are now. The fact that we have now the closed borders and the fact that we are getting [10:54] people who are criminals, people who do not belong here, who have committed crimes since [10:57] illegally coming into this country out is not something the American people are against. So [11:02] whether it comes to adjusting some of the way we're doing things, we'll see. But no, [11:07] we're not going to stop doing what we've been doing for the past two years when it comes to [11:11] making this country safer and making our community safer. There's a reason why crime is the lowest it's [11:17] been in generations. And it's because of President Trump and his policies. And that's not something [11:21] the American people want us to stop doing. And the Department of Justice isn't going to stop doing [11:25] that. Mr. Attorney General, thank you very much for taking time to speak with us [11:30] today. We look forward to staying in touch. Thank you, sir.