Preliminary investigation suggests WHCD shooter was targeting Trump admin, Acting AG Blanche says

[0:00] And joining me now is Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Mr. Blanche, welcome back to Meet [0:06] the Press. Thank you for being here on what is a somber morning in the nation's capital. [0:12] It is. Good morning. Thank you. [0:14] Good morning. You were in the room when this all unfolded. And I want to just start [0:19] on a personal level, Mr. Deputy Attorney General, when you realized what was going on, [0:25] how did you react? I think I reacted like a lot of people in that room. There was obviously [0:33] initial confusion. But law enforcement, I think what everybody saw in that room, and I was in [0:39] the briefing room an hour later and saw a lot of the people that were in that room along with me [0:45] was the great work of law enforcement. I mean, everybody virtually immediately felt safe because [0:51] the law enforcement presence in that hotel and in that conference room was overwhelming. And so [0:56] while I didn't know what had happened, nobody did it at first, I felt safe. And then obviously [1:02] the night unfolded as it did. Okay, let's get to the facts. What is the very latest you can share [1:08] about the investigation into the suspect and any potential motive? [1:14] So we, law enforcement, FBI, Secret Service, police departments in Los Angeles and in D.C. [1:23] work through the night executing search warrants on a couple of different locations and also on [1:28] devices to try to continue to investigate. It's been about 12 hours or so since the incident happened. [1:34] And what we believe happened, at least as of now, is that the suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles [1:42] to Chicago and then Chicago to Washington, D.C., where he checked into the hotel where the correspondence [1:50] center was at in the last day or two. We believe that the two firearms he had on him, [1:56] he had purchased within the past couple of years. And there's also, there's, we're still investigating [2:03] motive and that's something that will necessarily take a couple of days at least. We believe that [2:08] he was targeting administration officials in this attack, attempted attack. But that's again, [2:14] quite preliminary as law enforcement continues to go through all the evidence. I was on the phone with [2:20] director Patel after one o'clock in the morning. The FBI agents at both coasts were, were up all night and [2:27] will continue doing their work. Prosecutors were, were up all night working. So it's a tragic, horrible event that [2:34] happened. On the other hand, it really shows, um, the best and brightest are, are keeping us safe and, and the work [2:40] that they did is great. So. And you are saying that you believe he was targeting administration [2:46] officials. Was he targeting administration officials or the president himself, Mr. Acting Attorney General? [2:55] We're still looking into that. And so we know that, that there were some writings and we've already [3:00] spoken with several witnesses who knew him. And we believe, I kept it a little general because we do [3:05] believe it was administration officials. Obviously, President Trump is a member of the, [3:09] the administration, the head of it. But, but as far as exacting threats that, that may have been [3:14] communicated beforehand, we are still, um, we're still actively investigating that, that evidence. [3:20] You saying there were some writings online. What specifically are you referencing? What's leading [3:25] you to believe that he was targeting the administration and the president? [3:29] We have, we have preliminary work and into some of his electronic devices and talking to some of [3:37] uh, uh, individuals who knew him. And based upon that work, I want to, I want to be careful not [3:42] to say something that ends up not being true. Cause like I said, this is 12 hours old, but it does [3:47] appear that, that he, he did in fact have, uh, set out to, to target folks that work in the administration, [3:55] likely including the president. But, but I want to wait and not get ahead of us on that. [3:58] Was it safe to have the president, cabinet officials, members of Congress, the first lady, [4:07] the vice president, such high ranking officials all in the same room at the same time? [4:13] Yes, of course. We're not going to stop living. We're not going to start doing our jobs. We're not [4:20] going to start, stop all the work that we're doing every day. And, and by the way, and you, you were, [4:25] you were there last night as well. Let's not forget that this, the suspect didn't get very far. [4:30] He barely broke the perimeter. And by barely, I mean by a few feet. And so while this was [4:35] extraordinarily dangerous and, and put a lot of lives at risk, and, and there's no doubt that, [4:40] that that's something that we're going to have to learn from over the next couple of weeks, [4:44] the system worked. We were safe. President Trump was safe. His secret service agents kept him safe. [4:50] All of us were, were, were safe. And so while, yes, it was a, a very tragic situation that, [4:56] as president Trump said last, last night, we are not going to stop living. We're not going to start, [5:01] stop being out there with the American people. And, and that's, if that was his goal, he failed. [5:06] And he was stopped. He was able, as you say, to breach that security checkpoint by merely a few [5:12] feet. How was he able to get even that far? And did he assemble his gun on site at the hotel? [5:21] We, we believe he was staying at the hotel. So I know there's been some reports about assembling the, [5:29] the gun somewhere outside of his, his room or somewhere else in the hotel. We're still, [5:33] we're still investigating, investigating that. I don't, I don't, we don't have all the answers [5:38] on to how he got far, but the perimeter is the perimeter. So necessarily, if somebody's outside [5:43] the perimeter and they try to breach it, assuming they don't get very far, that's what we want. [5:48] That's what we want law enforcement to stop. And, and, and they did. And that's a real testament. [5:54] I know there's some video out there that shows his efforts to break through. And you saw these [5:59] Secret Service agents, they were remarkable. And by the way, they're about to, you know, [6:04] the fact that, that DHS is not being funded after what we saw those men, those men and women doing [6:09] last night should be a wake up call to, to Congress. And I, and I hope that it is. [6:13] Do you think the funding fight is making America less safe? Is that what you're saying? [6:16] Look, I'm not, no, no, these men and women are doing their jobs. I'm not saying that at all. [6:24] To the contrary. I mean, listen, what we saw last night with law enforcement was something that, [6:30] that should be a testament to, to, to, to every single American that they have men and women [6:34] protecting them, not only outside these borders with our great military, but also inside these [6:39] borders with law enforcement. So it was, that made me very proud to lead the Department of Justice last [6:45] night when I saw the work that everybody was doing, keeping, keeping everybody safe and also [6:49] launching and, and very quickly conducting an investigation that will necessarily take time. [6:54] But, but we've got a lot done already. President Trump said the shooter was a lone [6:59] wolf. Can you confirm that the shooter acted completely alone? You are not looking for any [7:04] other suspects this morning? Well, what President Trump said is that as of now, [7:10] we think that that's what the police chief said as well. And that's that, [7:13] but this is an investigation that is 12 hours, 13 hours old. And so those facts can change and they [7:18] often do change. And, and if they, if there is anybody else involved, we will leave no stone unturned [7:24] to find out everything we can about that. But from what we know right now, from what we know, [7:30] given what happened last night and the evidence we've gathered so far, we don't believe anybody else [7:35] was involved. But again, we have a lot of work left to do and a lot of evidence left to invest, [7:40] to go through and to collect. Is the suspect cooperating with investigators? [7:48] I don't think he's cooperating with investigators. I don't want, I want to [7:51] be careful the way I talk around that, but no, it's not. At this point, we do not have somebody [7:56] who's cooperating. I expect he will be charged formally tomorrow morning in, in federal court [8:02] in Washington, DC. And I expect that, that we'll go forward from there. Do you know what the charges [8:08] will be? Can you give us a sense of that this morning? Yes, not atypically in a case like this, [8:15] there will be an assault of a federal officer charge. There'll be a charge about, you know, [8:19] him discharging a firearm and attempting to, to kill a federal officer. And then there are [8:24] potentially charges beyond that, that come from reviewing of the evidence. And if we understand [8:29] his motivations and as we continue to gather, but initially I expect those two charges to be filed [8:35] tomorrow morning. So assault of a federal officer and then using a firearm and discharging a firearm [8:41] during that assault. Is there any potential nexus to terrorism here, Mr. Blanche, any connection to [8:48] what's happening in Iran? No. And president Trump talked about that last night. We just don't know [8:55] yet. And that's not surprising given, you know, where we are here on Sunday morning after something [9:00] happens Saturday night. I promise you that we will get to the bottom of that. That's, that's what the FBI [9:05] does every day. But as of now, we don't have any connection to any particular, uh, policy directive [9:12] of president Trump or, or, um, Iran or anything else that we're doing in this country. But, but we are, [9:19] we are looking into it and we'll know more. And when we know more, we'll share it with the American [9:23] people. And just to be very clear, do you believe that law enforcement met all of the standards for an [9:30] event of that magnitude with anything missed? Absolutely. 100%. Because listen, you cannot [9:40] stop living. You cannot stop being in public like we talked about a minute ago. And so how do you create [9:45] an environment that keeps people safe, but still allows them to, to live in this great country and [9:51] to walk around and to have a dinner. And, and so, yes, I am proud of the work that the law enforcement [9:57] did. It also just, it, it was a great example of the collective work of law enforcement. You have [10:02] the secret service taking the lead and keeping us safe, supported by the metropolitan police [10:07] department. And then you had every other federal agency there as well, whether they were there [10:11] because they were protected, protecting cabinet members or just there to support. And that's why at [10:16] the end of the day, although it was a very scary evening for you and a very traumatic evening for a lot [10:22] of us, we were all safe. That is absolutely correct. I do want to ask you big picture, [10:29] Mr. Acting Attorney General, the security breach does come amid reporting in the Atlantic that FBI [10:35] Director Cash Patel has alarmed some of his colleagues with episodes of what the Atlantic describes as [10:41] excessive drinking, unexplained absences. Does President Trump still have confidence in Cash [10:48] Patel to lead the FBI at this critical moment? That article was full of unnamed sources and should [10:57] be completely discounted. I was with Director Patel last night. I was with him at the crime scene. I was [11:04] with him in the Oval Office. I was with him afterwards. I was on the phone with him late into the evening. [11:09] He was at the command center of leading the investigation along with the, our great attorney, [11:15] great U.S. attorney from D.C., Janine Pirro. And that's what he's doing. So there's all these fake [11:22] articles with unnamed sources claiming things. And then there's the reality of what's happening [11:27] and what we all saw last night. And so I'm not going to speak for President Trump, but I certainly [11:31] have confidence in Director Patel and also the men and women working with him that work through the [11:37] night, will work through the day and through the night tonight to investigate this crime. And it's [11:42] something that I'm very proud of. And, and everybody in this country should, should be proud of that as [11:47] well. Okay. And you're saying that the Atlantic has stood by its reporting. I do want to ask you [11:52] looking forward, what specific steps is the Department of Justice taking to monitor or disrupt [12:00] more potential acts of violence and potentially political violence? We work every day to protect [12:08] this country. There's thousands of agents that are working every day to protect this country. And [12:13] it's regular investigative steps. It's tips coming in from members of the public. It's us doing the, [12:18] the investigative work that, that, that we have done for decades that we continue to do. [12:23] And you've seen that in the results. You've seen that in the, in the charges that we brought in the, [12:27] the attempts at terrorism that have been stopped by the FBI and by, by DHS agents as well. And so this [12:34] is an all government approach to, to make sure that our country is safe, not only within our borders, [12:38] but also outside as well. And, and that's the work that we have always done. And notwithstanding [12:44] the noise that comes from, from some parts of this country about the work that we were not doing, [12:49] it's not true. And, and so I, I think that the, the work that, that happened last night [12:55] is something that the whole world got to see, but that's what happens every day inside the FBI, [13:01] the Department of Justice and DHS. [13:03] Two more very quickly. King Charles, as you know, set to visit Washington this week. Are you [13:08] confident that King Charles, that world leaders can be safe here? [13:12] Yes. Yes. I'm very confident. I mean, this, this is not, we, we have to learn from what happened [13:20] last night and we will, but the, the first takeaway, the takeaway that it should be obvious is that the [13:25] system worked and that we stopped this suspect and we stopped him as soon as he tried to do what he [13:30] was trying to do. And the president was safe, his cabinet was safe and, and every reporter and every [13:35] member of the, of the press and their guests were safe as well. [13:38] Okay. And just finally, I want to ask you this question. I'm going to be talking to Senator Tom [13:43] Tillis coming up. The Justice Department just dropped its criminal probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell [13:49] after Senator Tillis threatened to block the nomination of the president's [13:53] pick to lead the Fed, Kevin Warsh. Does the Justice Department commit to not reopening this [13:59] investigation if and after Kevin Warsh is confirmed? [14:03] But what we said last week remains true. We are letting Horowitz, the inspector general do his job. [14:13] He necessarily needs to be, he has a lot of tools. He can talk to people. He can look at records. He, [14:18] he, the, the, the work that the, every inspector general, especially him can do, [14:21] we have a lot of faith in, we're going to let that process play out. There's a lot, by statute, [14:27] if he identifies any criminal conduct, he's required to make a referral to the U.S. Attorney's [14:32] office. I don't know what his investigation will, will uncover, and, and nobody does, [14:36] because it's an investigation. But if he uncovers evidence of criminal conduct, there is no doubt [14:41] that we will investigate. And we're, we're, what, what we wanted to make sure is that this conduct [14:47] is investigated. That, that's been the goal from the start, is to understand what is going on [14:51] with that situation and with the building and the cost overruns and why it's costing so much money. [14:56] And, and the president has, has faith and trust in, in the inspector general to do his work. [15:01] And we'll be watching it. And we'll go from there, depending on what he finds. [15:05] So very quickly, you don't rule out the possibility that there could be a criminal [15:09] investigation reopened into Jerome Powell over those alleged crossed overruns. [15:14] This is an investigation. And so I'm not going to pre judge what the investigation will find and [15:21] say there's absolutely going to be charges or absolutely not going to be charges. That wouldn't [15:25] be fair to the process. We are, we are going to let the investigation unfold. Let him do his work [15:30] at the conclusion. He will, he will issue a report of some sort, and that may include a referral. [15:36] It may not. So we'll, we'll see what happens. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, [15:40] thank you for being here. We are grateful that you are safe, that members of the cabinet are safe, [15:45] that the president and the first lady are safe. And we are thankful to the secret service, [15:50] as you say, for keeping us all safe last night. Thank you for being here.