Todd Blanche takes over justice department after Pam Bondi sacking
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
After Pam Bondi was sacked by Donald Trump on Thursday, her former deputy Todd Blanche is taking over the justice department until a permanent replacement is confirmed.
Blanche was the president’s personal attorney before being appointed deputy attorney general in Trump’s second administration. He represented him in the hush-money case brought by former porn star Stormy Daniels. He also served as Trump’s lead defense lawyer in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
Trump praised Blanche as “a very talented and respected Legal Mind” when he announced him as acting attorney general in a social media post on Thursday.
Blanche released a statement following Bondi’s ouster, saying that he’s thankful for the “trust and opportunity” to serve as acting attorney general.
“Pam Bondi led this Department with strength and conviction and I’m grateful for her leadership and friendship,” Blanche added. “We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe.”
Key events
Pam Bondi was Trump’s chief enforcer when it came to going after his perceived political foes.
As my colleague Sam Levine writes, she “oversaw purges of career employees who had been assigned to work on the criminal cases against Trump as well as scores of career lawyers with irreplaceable expertise. She also oversaw politically motivated prosecutions against Trump’s political enemies, including the former FBI director James Comey and New York attorney general, Letitia James.”
Now he’s taking over the Department of Justice, will Todd Blanche keep pursuing cases against Comey, James and others? He sidestepped the question in a Dox News interview on Thursday night.
Blanche told Jesse Watters Trump was frustrated with the state of investigations but insisted: “We don’t talk about investigations, but I can tell you that the Department of Justice is working hard every day. It was working yesterday, and we’re going to keep working tomorrow.”
Donald Trump last night posted another threat against Iran’s transport and energy infrastructure, saying the US military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants! New Regime leadership knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!”
Iran later said that a second US F-35 fighter jet had been shot down over Iran, with the state news agency saying it’s unlikely the pilot survived, Reuters reports.
Last month, the US military said in a statement that a US F-35 aircraft conducted an emergency landing after flying a combat mission over Iran. The military said the pilot of that jet was in stable condition.
A spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya central HQ said on Friday the second F-35 jet was shot down over central Iran by Revolutionary Guard air defenses, with low chances of pilot survival, Reuters reported.
There was no immediate comment from the US, and the Guardian has not been able to confirm the report.
You can follow the latest news and updates in the US-Israeli war in Iran in our dedicated live blog:
Sam Levine
Pam Bondi’s swift dismissal on Thursday underscores a reality that has met Trump loyalists from Jeff Sessions to Kristi Noem – no amount of loyalty is enough to save oneself from being dumped by Donald Trump.
Since the president assumed office last year, there have been few people more important to his effort to remake government than Bondi, his longtime friend.
It was not enough.
You can read the full analysis here:
David Smith
Donald Trump has been accused of running a “misogynistic administration” after making Pam Bondi the second woman to be fired from a cabinet already dominated by men.
The US president dismissed the attorney general on Thursday amid mounting frustration with her performance, especially over the release of files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The move came less than a month after Trump ousted Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, following criticism of her management of the department and immigration enforcement.
Bondi and Noem are the only two cabinet members to lose their jobs so far in Trump’s second term despite male officials such as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr stumbling from controversy to controversy.
Todd Blanche takes over justice department after Pam Bondi sacking
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
After Pam Bondi was sacked by Donald Trump on Thursday, her former deputy Todd Blanche is taking over the justice department until a permanent replacement is confirmed.
Blanche was the president’s personal attorney before being appointed deputy attorney general in Trump’s second administration. He represented him in the hush-money case brought by former porn star Stormy Daniels. He also served as Trump’s lead defense lawyer in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
Trump praised Blanche as “a very talented and respected Legal Mind” when he announced him as acting attorney general in a social media post on Thursday.
Blanche released a statement following Bondi’s ouster, saying that he’s thankful for the “trust and opportunity” to serve as acting attorney general.
“Pam Bondi led this Department with strength and conviction and I’m grateful for her leadership and friendship,” Blanche added. “We will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law, and doing everything in our power to keep America safe.”