Blanche, the deputy attorney general for the past year, stepped into the acting attorney general role after Trump replaced Bondi last week, and he addressed questions Tuesday about the reasons behind the change. When reporters asked whether Bondi lost her job because she had not successfully brought criminal cases against the president’s perceived adversaries, Blanche responded that he did not know the rationale and said only Trump does.
At an unrelated news conference, Blanche said, “nobody” other than Trump knows why Bondi was replaced. He added that he was the acting attorney general and that “nobody has any idea why the attorney general is no longer the attorney general, and I’m the acting attorney general, except for President Trump,” according to his remarks to reporters.
Blanche framed his elevation as coming from Trump’s decision to replace Bondi and said he did not feel “pressure” in the acting role. The new acting attorney general also said Trump is entitled to seek investigations involving former government officials whom the president believes have wronged him.
Blanche pointed to the scope of work underway at the Justice Department, saying there are “thousands of ongoing investigations and prosecutions going on in this country right now.” He said that some of those matters involve “men, women and entities” tied to people Trump has had “issues with” and who the president believes “should be investigated,” calling that “his right” and “indeed” his duty.
When asked about his own intentions, Blanche demurred on whether he wanted to be nominated to the attorney general job. He said that if Trump chose to keep him as acting, that would be “an honor,” and that if Trump nominated him, that would also be “an honor.” He said he would take whichever path Trump chooses and described no personal “goals or aspirations beyond that.”
During his first news conference as acting attorney general, Blanche also laid out priorities focused on fraud enforcement. He heralded a “redoubled” effort against fraud and said the Justice Department is creating a new fraud enforcement division.
Blanche said the new fraud enforcement division would draw prosecutors from offices across the country, and he pointed to the Senate’s recent confirmation of Colin McDonald. The conference followed the Senate’s last-month confirmation of McDonald, a veteran prosecutor and Blanche aide, to lead the division, as Blanche described the planned expansion of fraud prosecutions.