CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez joined anchor Pamela Brown on Thursday to detail his bombshell scoop that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was told by ethics officials at the DOJ he needed to recuse himself from matters related to President Donald Trump – whom he previously worked for as his personal attorney. Perez explained the potentially wide-reaching implications of his reporting for Blanche’s law licence and the viability of cases he prosecutes related to the president.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and Hannah Rabinowitz shared the byline with Perez on the reporting, which dropped shortly before Perez went on air.

“A CNN exclusive reveals new reporting just into the Situation Room. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch, just weeks after taking on the role of Deputy Attorney General last year, was advised to recuse himself from legal cases involving President Trump. CNN’s Evan Perez is here, and he is one of the reporters who broke this story. So tell us about the significance of this and what more you’re learning here?” began Brown, introducing the segment.

“Well, the significance—and why this is important—is that the acting attorney general, Todd Blanch, who was the personal attorney for the president back during the Jack Smith investigations over the last couple of years, is now essentially switching sides,” Perez replied, adding:

And he potentially could be overseeing cases like the one that is being led by Joe DiGenova, a former U.S. Attorney down in Miami. He’s working on this so-called grand conspiracy case that spans from 2017 and the Russian investigation all the way through 2024. The idea being that former officials that the president believes targeted him should now be investigated and perhaps prosecuted by the Justice Department.

So the question that we’ve been asking the Justice Department is whether the attorney general—the acting attorney general—is recused from those cases because it’s clear from the guidance he’s received, including from Joseph Terrell, the top ethics official. A couple of weeks after he took office, he told him, “You have to recuse from cases involving President Trump.” And so we’ve been asking the question.

They’ve tried not to answer the question. It appears they did send us a statement, which I’ll read to you right now. It says: “He is recused from many cases before Doj. In any cases that are still ongoing where he previously represented someone, he is recused.” Now we followed up with questions about whether this applies to the so-called weaponization cases that are top of mind for President Trump. And we haven’t received a response. We’re still waiting. But here’s the problem. You and I covered Jeff Sessions when he was attorney general.

“Could we forget it?” Brown replied.

“Right, exactly. And we remember when he recused, the president never forgave him, tormented him, and in the end, he was pushed out because of this. So Todd Blanch really faces that quandary, right? He either can manage the cases that the president really cares about and risk damaging those cases—it’ll certainly be an issue in court—or he can recuse and risk getting essentially the Sessions treatment from President Trump,” noted Perez.

“But if he doesn’t recuse, couldn’t he also lose his law license?” Brown pressed.

“Absolutely. This is an issue of his law license. It’s also an issue of whether those cases could be viable in court because certainly, if John Brennan, for instance, who is under investigation in Florida, if he is charged, one of the first things they’re going to do is ask a judge to determine whether there is vindictive, selective, and punitive prosecution. And this question will arise,” Perez explained, noting the wide reaching implications of his reporting.

“And just as an aside, very quickly: Joe DiGenova has pushed numerous conspiracy theories, and now he’s overseeing this case,” Brown noted.

“Right. And he believes strongly that there is this grand conspiracy against President Trump that dates back from 2017 to 2024. This is a reinvigorated case now that Todd Blanch has pushed out the career lawyer who was handling it and has put Joe DiGenova down in Fort Pierce, Florida, to oversee it,” Perez concluded.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!