Acting AG says ‘Nobody has any idea why’ Pam Bondi was fired except for Trump
By Holmes Lybrand, CNN
Washington, DC (CNN) — During his first news conference Tuesday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche showcased his loyalty to President Donald Trump while declining to answer specific questions about the war with Iran, why Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired or other investigations into the president’s enemies.
“I love working for President Trump. It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime,” Blanche said when asked whether he wanted to be nominated as the full-time attorney general. “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.’”
When asked why Bondi was fired and how the DOJ will change, Blanche was dismissive.
“I’m going to lead the way that I’ve been leading as the deputy attorney general,” said Blanche, a former Trump defense attorney.
“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,” Blanche added.
Epstein investigation subponea
Beyond her failure to successfully bring cases against Trump’s personal and political enemies, Bondi’s standing was harmed her drastic and self-inflicted stumbles in handling the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
When asked about Bondi’s outstanding House Oversight Committee subpoena over the botched handling of the Epstein investigation, Blanche said he would said he would leave the matter “to Chairman (James) Comer and others to figure out.”
Blanche said he didn’t know whether the Justice Department would assert privilege in the matter in an effort to stop the subpoena.
“I’m not committing to anything,” he said. “I’m just saying I don’t know.”
Backs the White House and Pentagon on Iran
Blanche, in a news conference meant to focus on efforts to investigate and prosecute fraud in the US, decline to answer a question on the Justice Department’s position on preemptivearguments that Trump might be committing war crimes if he follows through with, as he said Tuesday, killing “a whole civilization” Tuesday night in Iran, barring a deal.
The interim DOJ head said the Justice Department supports the White House and Department of Defense and provides “counsel to them, and we have been doing that, as you would expect.”
CNN also pressed Blanche on what, if any, investigative steps have been taken after Trump threatened to jail an unspecified reporter as part of a hunt for the “leaker” behind initial reports Friday of the missing Air Force officers in Iran.
Two officers went missing after their US fighter jet was downed in Iran. Both have since been rescued.
While first saying he wouldn’t comment on ongoing investigations, Blanche noted that “we will always investigate” leaks involving classified information, especially those that put US soldiers at risk.
“And we will investigate if it means sending a subpoena to the reporter,” Blanche said. “That’s exactly what we should do, and that’s exactly what we will be doing.”
CNN’s Devan Cole contributed to this report.
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