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“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,” Todd Blanche told reporters when asked at
an unrelated news conference if Bondi lost her job because she
was not successful in bringing criminal cases against the
Republican president's perceived adversaries.
Blanche, the deputy attorney general for the last year, was
elevated to the top job on at least an acting basis after Trump
replaced Bondi. He insisted Tuesday that he did not feel
"pressure" in the job despite Trump's well-publicized desire for
retribution, though he also said that the president was entitled
to seek investigations against former government officials he
believes have wronged him.
“We have thousands of ongoing investigations and prosecutions
going on in this country right now. And it is true that some of
them involve men, women and entities that the president in the
past has had issues with and believes should be investigated.
That is his right, and indeed it is his duty to do that,"
Blanche said.
Blanche demurred when asked if he was interested in being
nominated to the role of attorney general.
“If President Trump chooses to keep me as acting,” Blanche said,
“that's an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that's an honor.
If he chooses to nominate somebody else and I go back to being
the DAG, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate somebody
else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, ‘Thank you
very much. I love you, sir.’ I don't have any goals or
aspirations beyond that.”
Blanche used his first news conference in his new role as acting
attorney general to herald a redoubled effort in fighting fraud,
offering details about a new fraud enforcement division that he
said would draw in prosecutors from offices across the country.
The Senate last month confirmed a veteran prosecutor and Blanche
aide, Colin McDonald, to lead that division.
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