By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has a right and duty to shape federal probes of individuals who investigated him as he faces pressure from the president to deliver prosecutions of perceived enemies.
In his first extended comments since being named acting attorney general last week, Blanche bristled at the notion that the Justice Department has been improperly targeting Trump’s opponents, but defended the president’s authority to influence 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. That is his right and indeed it is his duty to do that, meaning to lead this country,” Blanche said during a press conference.
Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday in part over dissatisfaction with the pace and outcome of cases Trump has demanded.
‘I LOVE YOU, SIR’
The Justice Department under Trump has opened a slew of investigations into Trump adversaries, including U.S. officials who concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election to boost Trump’s first campaign, Democratic lawmakers who urged U.S. military personnel to refuse unlawful orders and liberal donors and fundraising groups.
The DOJ has encountered obstacles from judges and grand juries in many of those investigations. A federal judge last year dismissed cases against two officials who investigated Trump, James Comey and Letitia James.
Blanche, who represented Trump in three of the four criminal cases he faced during his years out of office, pointed to those cases in arguing that Trump “wants justice” for those whom he believes improperly turned the legal system against him.
Blanche declined to say on Tuesday whether he wants to be nominated to the vacant attorney general post. He said the decision was up to Trump, and if the president nominated someone else and asked Blanche to leave his role in the Justice Department, “I will say, ‘thank you very much, I love you, sir.'”
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward. Editing by Michael Learmonth, Rod Nickel)
