Pam Bondi is out as attorney general, but if you're looking for a clear explanation why from her replacement, you won't find it. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Tuesday that "nobody has any idea" why President Trump fired Bondi last week—except Trump himself. The New York Times reports that news of the firing led insiders to flag Trump's displeasure with how Bondi handled the Jeffrey Epstein case files and with the volume of criminal cases that have been brought against Trump's political rivals. Blanche swatted at such comments. "I grow tired of people in the media saying why President Trump did or didn't do something because President Trump is the only one that knows that," he said.
Blanche, a former defense lawyer for Trump who as deputy attorney general had the DOJ's No. 2 job, called Bondi "a trusted friend of President Trump's," and said he didn't seek the promotion and doesn't know if he'll be nominated permanently. The AP reports that while the news conference—his first since being named acting AG—was largely focused on a new anti-fraud division, his comments came in response to a question about whether Bondi lost her job because Trump wanted to see more criminal cases successfully brought against those he believes have wronged him.
The Washington Post reports Blanche did defend such moves in general: "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 that he believes should be investigated. That is his right, and indeed it is his duty to do that."
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
