Trump's views can factor into prosecutions, Attorney General Todd Blanche says

Attorney General Todd Blanche refused Sunday to pledge the Justice Department's independence from the White House, saying he would consider President Trump's views on individual prosecutions.

Why it matters: Trump has remade the DOJ , ousting longtime staffers , urging prosecutions of rivals and installing his former lawyer as attorney general.

Blanche made the stakes clear: Trump's wishes can shape who gets investigated and prosecuted .

What he's saying: "No, I'm not going to pledge that," Blanche told NBC's "Meet the Press" after Kristen Welker asked whether DOJ would "always act independently" of the White House.

"And no attorney general should ever pledge that," he added.

Zoom in: Blanche said "yes, of course" Trump should have a voice in individual prosecution decisions.

"The president of the United States, the elected president of the United States, says something to me," he said.

"And I'm supposed to say to you, 'I would say no.' I mean, that's not the way it works." Catch up quick: Blanche called it an "extraordinarily false narrative" that Trump tells him, "Go prosecute X or Y." Yet Trump regularly broadcasts whom he wants prosecuted.

Last September, Trump called for prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen.

Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), writing: "They're all guilty as hell. … JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!" The DOJ charged Comey and James, though a judge dismissed those cases.

Prosecutors later charged Comey again , over a social media post they say threatened Trump.

Comey asked the judge to dismiss the case.

This month, Trump told D.C.

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