Blanche Faces Grilling on Hegseth Impeachment Push and Trump’s Claim Dems Plotted to Kill Him

Attorney General Todd Blanche was confronted during a press conference he led Tuesday over Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump’s claim that Democrats plotted to assassinate him.

The appearance before reporters notably took place in the White House’s Rose Garden, not the Justice Department. Blanche repeatedly remarked that he enjoyed seeing members of the press “sweating” in their seats.

The attorney general was pressed on Massie and Hegseth by New York Post correspondent Steven Nelson.

“Congressman Thomas Massie today introduced articles of impeachment against Secretary Hegseth,” Nelson noted. According to Axios reporter Andrew Solender, the House will be forced to vote on the measure by Thursday “unless GOP leadership cancels the week early.”

“Who did?” Blanche further inquired.

“Thomas Massie,” Nelson confirmed, “for allegedly violating the War Powers Resolution by conducting the war [in Iran] without congressional authorization. What’s your current legal assessment of how long the war can continue without specific congressional authorization?”

“Secretary Hegseth is doing a phenomenal job,” the attorney general emphasized. “The Secretary of War doesn’t just go off and do things, so he follows the law. And so, the DOJ plays a role in that, and we play an active role in making sure the law is complied with. You called it a ‘war.’ I disagree with that characterization, as does most of Congress.”

Later in the briefing, CNN’s Kristen Holmes asked, “Earlier today, President Trump said that there was new evidence in the assassination attempt [against him] in Butler, Pennsylvania. He said it was a Democratic plot. Moments later, [FBI Director] Kash Patel testified that the shooter wasn’t speaking to anyone other than his parents.”

She then asked Blanche to explain the president’s comments, including his suggestion that former FBI Director Christopher Wray should be punished.

The attorney general responded:

The Department of Justice doesn’t punish, by the way, but, um, so look — I was with President Trump during the time period before and after the attempted assassination attempt on his life. And he was shot. He was a victim. There was an innocent man killed. There were other people who were very seriously injured when that happened.

What President Trump said today about the new information — and this new information is information that we found, that the FBI found, that we produced to the Senate in response to inquiries that they had. It is new information about the shooter and about his background, about his history, and that’s stuff that we didn’t know before. So, that’s the new information.

As far as the president’s frustration with the FBI, I was there with him. I lived it. I mean, you have a situation where it’s not really clear what the leadership of the FBI was doing in the weeks and months ahead of the attempted assassination to protect President Trump. That’s the same organization that was simultaneously trying to put him in prison until he dies.

So, his frustration and concern about what the former director was doing is something that is not new. He’s said that for a very long time.

Watch the clips above via CNN.

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