Blanche says Trump has ‘right’ to shape DOJ investigation into political enemies
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that President Donald Trump has a “right” and a “duty” to influence federal investigations, including those involving the president’s political enemies who have previously investigated him.
Blanche, who was named acting attorney general last week, dismissed the idea that the Justice Department was improperly going after Trump’s opponents and defended the president’s influence over federal investigations.
“We have thousands of investigations and prosecutions going on in this country right now. It is true that some of them affect men, women and groups that the president has had problems with in the past and he believes should be investigated,” said Blanche in a press conference.
“That is his right and indeed it is his duty to do that, which means to lead this country, so I do not consider this as pressure,” he continued.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that President Donald Trump has a “right” and a “duty” to influence federal investigations. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
It comes after Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday after she failed to secure successful prosecutions of some of Trump’s political rivals and amid bipartisan frustration over her handling of the Epstein files.
The DOJ opened a number of investigations against Trump’s opponents, including US officials who discovered that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election to boost Trump, Democratic lawmakers who encouraged US service members to ignore illegal orders, allegations of former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to sign official documents without his direct approval and liberal donors and fundraising groups.
Blanche shut down the idea that the Trump administration is arming the DOJ, noting the few investigations into Trump that took place under the Biden administration.
“You have a president who was helpful with this department, so this department helped two other local DAs go after the president. You had this department that stood idly by when states tried to prevent President Trump from voting,” Blanche said, adding that the Trump administration’s “arms” of the DOJ are “absolutely false.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was appointed acting attorney general last week. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
Blanche, who represented Trump in three of the four criminal cases he faced when he left office, cited those cases as he said Trump is “seeking justice” for people he believes are abusing the legal system.
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The acting attorney general declined to disclose whether he is seeking an appointment to the vacant attorney general position. He said he would be honored if Trump chose him for this role, but he would still love him if he chose someone else.
President Donald Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi last week. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“As for whether I want this job or not, I didn’t ask for this job. I love working for President Trump,” said Blanche. “It’s the greatest honor in life, and if President Trump chooses to keep me as acting, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate someone else and he asks me to do something else, I’ll say, ‘Thank you very much. I love you, sir.’
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Officers can serve on an acting basis for up to 210 days. Trump has not named a permanent nominee for the position, but he could nominate Blanche. It is reported that the president has had discussions with the director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, about taking this job.
Reuters contributed to this report.
