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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has a "right" and a "duty" to influence federal investigations, including those regarding the president's political enemies who probed him in the past.
Blanche, who was named acting attorney general last week, dismissed the notion that the Justice Department has been improperly going after Trump's opponents and defended the president's influence over federal investigations.
"We have thousands of ongoing investigations and prosecutions going on in this country right now. 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," Blanche said at a press conference.
"That is his right and indeed it is his duty to do that, meaning to lead this country, and so I do not view this as pressure," he continued.
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This comes after Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday after she failed to secure successful indictments against some of Trump's political rivals and amid bipartisan frustrations with her handling of the Epstein files.
The DOJ has opened several investigations into Trump's opponents, including U.S. officials who found that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to boost Trump, Democratic lawmakers who encouraged U.S. service members to ignore unlawful orders, former President Joe Biden's alleged use of an autopen to sign official documents without his direct authorization and liberal donors and fundraising groups.
Blanche shut down the idea that the Trump administration is weaponizing the DOJ, noting a few of the investigations into Trump that took place under the Biden administration.
"You had a president who, along with this department, had assistance, so this department helped two other local DA's go after the president. You had this department who stood idly by while states tried to keep President Trump off the ballot," Blanche said, adding that the Trump administration's "supposed weaponization" of the DOJ is "completely false."
Blanche, who represented Trump in three of the four criminal cases he faced while out of office, cited those cases as he argued that Trump "wants justice" for people he believes improperly weaponized the legal system against him.
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The acting attorney general declined to say whether he wants to be nominated to the vacant attorney general post. He said he would be honored if Trump chose him for the role, but would still love him if he chose someone else.
"As to whether or not I want this job, I did not ask for this job. I love working for President Trump," Blanche said. "It's the greatest honor of a lifetime, 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 somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, 'Thank you very much. I love you, sir.'"
Officials can serve in an acting capacity for up to 210 days. Trump has not signaled a nominee to take the role permanently, but he could nominate Blanche. The president has also reportedly had discussions with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin about taking the job.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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