WASHINGTON, D.C. — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche held his first news briefing this month in Washington, D.C., defending a public message President Trump sent to former Attorney General Pam Bondi and outlining his enforcement priorities at the Justice Department. Blanche assumed the role after Trump fired Bondi this month.

Trump had sent a communication to Bondi publicly imploring her to indict several of his political enemies. Trump fired Bondi in part because he was frustrated that she did not have more success in prosecutions of his political foes. At the briefing, Blanche characterized the communication as an example of the president being upfront with the American people and making his high expectations clear.

"That type of communication from President Trump should make every American happy," Blanche said. "It means that there's an executive, a chief executive, that is making sure every one of his Cabinet members are working as hard as they should."

He said that directing the Justice Department is what being the commander in chief is about, describing Trump as his boss. He also promised to prioritize what the Trump administration has called the "weaponization" of the Justice Department by Democrats against Trump, his allies and some right-wing groups, while noting that investigations into the president's political enemies were only a small part of the department's overall work.

The department has faced a series of legal setbacks in recent weeks. A federal judge blocked subpoenas for the Federal Reserve and its Chairman Jerome Powell. A judge dismissed cases against New York Attorney General Letitia James and against former FBI Director James Comey. The department is weighing whether to retry the Comey case.

The Justice Department also failed to indict six sitting members of Congress over a social media video that Trump labeled "SEDITIOUS" because it encouraged members of the military and intelligence communities not to obey unlawful orders. A federal grand jury rejected the claims against the six lawmakers.

"It could be that the grand jury just made the wrong decision. The grand jurors don't get everything right, just like nobody gets everything right all the time. So some of those, it's a tough case, and some of those we're continuing to investigate," he said. Federal prosecutors could continue to pursue cases that had been rejected by federal grand jurors, he indicated.