Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche conducted his first press briefing Tuesday since taking on the job following Pam Bondi’s ouster in early April. He denied that the DOJ was weaponizing the department by going after President Trump’s enemies and said what they were really trying to do was clean the agency up after former President Joe Biden and his AG Merrick Garland turned it into their personal war machine.
"What we've been doing is changing the department," Blanche said:
What we saw, and what President Trump went through, every single prosecutor in this department, you have a duty to do the right thing. You have prosecutors who are absolutely not doing the right thing. ...
What happened the last four years is something that will never happen again.
If you were wondering whether Blanche was going to play the shy, retiring type, you can put that notion to rest because he doesn’t suffer fools gladly. “What kind of question is that?” he snapped at a reporter who came at him with a ridiculous query:
"You said earlier that this Department of Justice has indicted @POTUS 4 times. Can you explain what you base that statement on?"@DAGToddBlanche: "What kind of a question is that? He got indicted 4 times. He got indicted in Florida, and then he got indicted in D.C., and then… pic.twitter.com/5KC7L3LLwM
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 7, 2026
He got indicted in Florida, and then he got indicted in D.C., and then they superseded in Florida, and then they superseded in D.C.
Blanche also revealed that, like Trump, he wants to know who leaked the information that one of our downed airmen was trapped in enemy territory in Iran. That leak put American servicemembers in danger, he charged:
🚨 BREAKING: Acting AG Todd Blanche just CONFIRMED he will subpoena the reporter, if needed, who got the leak of the rescue operation in Iran — which tipped off the regime to set a bounty on our hero
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 7, 2026
Good. That leaker MUST BE IMPRISONED!
"We will investigate, if it means… pic.twitter.com/nU25rHjA9N
"We will investigate, if it means sending a subpoena to the reporter, that's exactly what we should do, and that's exactly what we will be doing, if it means doing regular investigations to identify who within the government feels like it's OK to leak classified information, to put lives at risk, then we'll try to root him or her out as well."
"So I'm not going to talk about ongoing investigations except to say that yes, we will always investigate those types of leaks."
MORE: Trump Vows to Hunt Down, Jail Leaker Who Endangered Missing F-15 Pilot by Tipping Off
Updated: Bondi Out; Blanche In
Blanche, who represented Trump in numerous legal cases before joining the Department of Justice, warned fraudsters and scammers that he’s coming after them:
BREAKING: Acting AG Todd Blanche warns fraudsters and scammers that the DOJ’s new task force will take them down if they target the American people:
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 7, 2026
“Fraudsters, scammers, tax cheats, or anyone who lies to get rich off the generosity of the American people should be on notice…… pic.twitter.com/SEfT5T7Jny
We have a storied history of combating fraud and bringing criminal actors to justice.
No decision has been announced on who will permanently take over the attorney general job, although Blanche is often named as a possibility, as is Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Lee Zeldin. For now, though, Blanche is coming out hot.
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