Trending claims

In September 2026, former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. described current Attorney General Todd Blanche's speech at the Republican convention as 'unprecedented, and it’s disgraceful'.

John Mitchell resigned as President Richard M. Nixon's first attorney general to run Nixon's 1972 re-election campaign.

John Mitchell, President Richard M. Nixon's first attorney general, later went to prison for his role in the Watergate scandal.

The principle that the U.S. Justice Department should strive to appear apolitical originated after the Watergate scandal.

The Trump administration moved the authority to overrule the Justice Department ethics office's recommendations from career officials to political appointees.

Kristina Spencer, who was appointed to a Justice Department position under the Trump administration, is a former aide to Vice President JD Vance and had no prior experience at the department.

According to the article, Todd Blanche is the first U.S. Attorney General to attend campaign rallies since post-Watergate norms against such activity were established.

In 2022, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland banned Justice Department political appointees from participating in partisan activities, including in their personal capacities or when family members were candidates.

During his tenure in the first Trump administration, Attorney General William P. Barr did not attend campaign rallies.

In 1976, Attorney General Edward H. Levi issued a memo outlining a policy of 'principled restraint from partisan activities'.

In 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales was criticized for giving a partisan speech at a Republican fund-raiser.

In a 2019 speech to the Federalist Society, Attorney General William P. Barr accused 'the left' of a 'systematic shredding of norms and the undermining of the rule of law'.

In 1978, Attorney General Griffin B. Bell issued a memo that banned top Justice Department officials from attending partisan political gatherings.

The norm for Justice Department leaders to avoid partisan politics originated in the post-Watergate era.

NYU law professor Stephen Gillers stated that Attorney General Todd Blanche’s political activities are protected by the First Amendment and do not violate professional conduct rules.

The Hatch Act and its regulations permit some political appointees to attend partisan events like fundraisers and rallies while off duty.

In September 2026, a Justice Department spokeswoman stated that Attorney General Blanche's political appearances are in his personal capacity, cleared by ethics officials, and his travel is reimbursed.

Cynthia Shaw ran the Justice Department’s ethics office throughout Donald Trump’s first term as president.

In September 2026, former DOJ ethics official Joseph Tirrell criticized Attorney General Todd Blanche’s participation in the Republican convention and a North Carolina rally, and called his White House briefing comments 'borderline' unethical.

Crime rates in the U.S. continued a long-term downward trend, reaching new lows in 2025.