Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Says He's Open to Serving in Job Permanently

CBS News

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday that he’d be willing to serve as the attorney general permanently if asked by President Trump, after Pam Bondi was ousted from the post last week.

Speaking at a press conference to announce the creation of a new National Fraud Enforcement Division, Blanche introduced himself as the acting attorney general, even though Bondi’s portrait is still hanging on the walls throughout the building, and said he still planned to travel with her Wednesday to a previously scheduled event.

“I did not ask for this job,” he told the press. “I love working for President Trump. It’s the greatest honor of a lifetime, and if President Trump chooses to keep me as acting, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate me, that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate somebody else and I go back to being the [Deputy Attorney General], that’s an honor. If he chooses to nominate somebody else and asks me to go do something else, I will say, ‘thank you very much, I love you, sir.'”