Expert review maps out what would happen if Comey 'woke up in a jail cell'

In a discussion about new Attorney General Todd Blanche and his relationship to President Donald Trump, a former prosecutor made it clear that someone else would be in office if they were more willing to do the president's bidding.

Speaking to CNN on Monday, Dave Aaronberg, former state attorney of Palm Beach County, Florida, spoke about Blanche's refusal to guarantee his independence from the president. When asked by "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker whether he'd maintain independence, Blanche argued that the Justice Department is part of the executive branch and he has no reason to ignore the president's authority or keep the DOJ independent.

Aaronberg agreed that, constitutionally speaking, Blanche is right. In the past, Republicans have criticized President Barack Obama for appointing Eric Holder, who once described Obama as his "wingman." President John F. Kennedy appointed his brother to the post. What is different in this case is that Trump has an enemies list, and he wants to use the Justice Department to target those enemies.

"So, having a close attorney general is not that rare. And here, what Blanche is saying is that he's allowed to discuss policy with the president. Correct. The attorney general is not independent of the president on policy, but he needs to be independent of the president when it comes to personal grudges," said Aaronberg.

"Nobody's asking Todd Blanche to declare complete independence from the executive branch," he continued. "In fact, they should go after fentanyl and human trafficking, things that the president wants. All we're doing is asking him to declare independence from Donald Trump's enemies list. There's a difference."

CNN host Boris Sanchez said that while Blanche claims Trump doesn't call him daily to ask him to target his enemies, what was ultimately seen during Pam Bondi's time as attorney general was that the president was demanding his attorney general go after some of his targets like Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Cal.), New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.

It prompted Sanchez to question whether Aaronberg trusted Blanche's public claims.

"The thing about Trump, Boris, is that Trump says the quiet part out loud. You don't have to have a private conversation with him. He'll put a tweet out like he did with Pam Bondi. He sent a message to the world saying, Pam, you got to go after my enemies here," said Aaronberg.

He also recalled Lindsey Halligan, a Trump lawyer who replaced a U.S. attorney who resigned over Trump's demands for political prosecutions of Comey and James. She was willing to move forward on those cases, but a judge ultimately ruled that she wasn't legally in the post.

"And this is why Todd Blanche has this job," Aaronberg said. "Because if today Letitia James or James Comey woke up in a jail cell, then Pam Bondi would still be attorney general. That's why she's not there anymore. And so, of course, Donald Trump is going to expect Todd Blanche to go after his enemies. And that's a problem. You're not supposed to direct a prosecution. That's something we have not seen before, at least not in the post-Watergate era."