We learned two important things from Todd Blanche this weekend. First, that his Department of Justice will not act independently of the White House and Donald Trump's wishes. Second, after losing 22 straight lawsuits over state voter files, the DOJ may now seek emergency relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Taken together, Blanche is painting a picture of maximum lawfare aimed at Trump's political opponents and at free and fair elections. Anyone who expected better behavior from Blanche never really understood why Trump wanted him in this position so badly heading into the midterms.

On Sunday, “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker asked Blanche a straightforward question: "Can you pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House?" After some throat-clearing gibberish, Blanche finally made his position crystal clear: "No, I'm not going to pledge that. And no attorney general should ever pledge that."

To be clear, every modern attorney general has, in fact, made that exact commitment. Only Todd Blanche — Donald Trump's Roy Cohn — refuses to do so, for one obvious reason: it is simply not plausible to maintain the charade that Trump and the White House aren't telling the DOJ whom to investigate and prosecute, and whom to let go.

If you are a political opponent of Trump's, you can expect to be harassed by this DOJ regardless of the evidence or your actual innocence. Likewise, if you are a friend of the president, you can operate with impunity bordering on legal immunity.

For the rule of law to exist, a dual standard for political friends and enemies cannot persist for long. Over time it will breed contempt for the law — both from those who feel they'll be punished regardless of their innocence and from those who violate it without consequence.

Todd Blanche does not view his primary obligation as being to the law. Rather, he sees himself as serving a client of one.