Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that President Donald Trump has authority to guide federal investigations, countering accusations that the Justice Department has been used to target Trump’s political opponents.

Blanche made the remarks during his first press conference since being appointed to the position last week, defending the president’s power to set enforcement priorities and dismissing concerns about the department’s independence as “completely false.”

In response to a question about whether he felt compelled to initiate prosecutions of Trump’s political opponents, Blanche said:

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… I do not view this as pressure. I do not view this as something that is going to keep me up at night, except to make sure that we are investigating every case that we have to the fullest extent of the law.

When asked whether he would seek a permanent nomination as attorney general, Blanche said the decision rests with Trump and expressed appreciation for his role.

The Justice Department under Trump has drawn significant attention for its seeming politicization of the legal system and general instability. Last week Trump dismissed former attorney general Pam Bondi, whose leadership spurred considerable criticism and whose firing remains unclear, as Blanche acknowledged.

“Nobody has any idea why the attorney general is no longer the attorney general and I’m the acting attorney general, except for President Trump,” Blanche said. “President Trump’s the only one that knows that.”

Blanche previously served as Trump’s personal defense attorney, representing him in the New York hush money case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which resulted in Trump’s conviction on multiple felony counts in 2024. Blanche was appointed as acting attorney general this year after serving as deputy attorney general and Librarian of Congress.