DOJ Loosens Rules Allowing Appointees in Political Campaigns
Left 0%
Center 100%
Right 0%
0 left · 2 center · 0 right
What happened
This week Assistant Attorney General Jolene Ann Laurie issued a Justice Department memo relaxing ethics restrictions on Senate-confirmed presidential appointees, including the attorney general, deputy attorney general, assistant attorneys general, FBI director and U.S. attorneys. The guidance allows those officials to speak at rallies, canvass for votes and serve as delegates or officers of a national political party if they do so in a personal capacity. Attorney General Todd Blanche had already addressed a Republican midterm convention in September and attended a rally for a North Carolina Republican Senate candidate. The memo goes further than an earlier loosening under former Attorney General Pam Bondi and reverses 2024 Biden-era rules that barred non-career appointees from attending partisan political events even personally. Blanche has said he is not violating any rule or law.
Sourcing check · Mostly on the record · 3 articles
2 of 3 articles cite a named source for the story. It started with unnamed sources; a named source appeared the next day. Todd Blanche denied part of it on the record.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
- On the record · names a source 2 of 3
- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Attorney General Todd Blanche, Assistant Attorney General Jolene Ann Laurie and Former Attorney General Pam Bondi
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 2 of 3
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: memo, official memo
- Credits another outlet 0 of 3
- The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
- Unnamed sources 0 of 3
- The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
- On-record denial 1
- A named person or institution says the claim, or part of it, is not true. It is on the record — someone signed their name to it — but it is not confirmation, so it never counts toward On the record. Criticizing or dissenting from a decision is not a denial. The count is how many people or institutions deny it; each is listed with the first article that carried the denial. Here: Todd Blanche (Washington Examiner, Oct 8, 21:44 UTC)
- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Oct 8, 21:44 UTC by Washington Examiner, with no named source. First named source the next day, from CBS News. First document the next day, from CBS News (memo).
- Not counted 0
- Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
BLINDSPOT.
Only right-leaning outlets are covering this story
— the other side's media is silent.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
The Justice Department memo authorizing senior appointees to join campaigns is missing from right-leaning coverage of Attorney General Todd Blanche's travel, and left-leaning outlets have not reported it. Right-leaning coverage says Blanche dismissed criticism he is mixing official business with electoral politics after a South Carolina event. It does not report this week's guidance allowing Senate-confirmed officials to speak at rallies, canvass for votes, and serve as party delegates in a personal capacity. Without that memo, a reader cannot tell whether those appearances break department norms or now sit inside written rules.
Right-leaning coverage gives Blanche the line, "This is not my first trip here." It never mentions a 2024 bar on non-career appointees attending partisan events even privately.
Does calling campaign work personal keep an attorney general from mixing it with the department's prosecutorial power?
Bottom line
Read the Washington Examiner and you get Blanche talking about a repeat South Carolina visit; you do not get the memo that now lets the attorney general canvass and serve as a party officer. Left-leaning outlets have not reported that memo at all.
The receipts — 6 facts one side's coverage lacks
- A memo this week by Assistant Attorney General Jolene Ann Laurie allows Senate-confirmed DOJ appointees to speak at rallies, canvass for votes, and serve as delegates or officers of a national political party in a personal capacity.
- The guidance applies to the attorney general, the deputy attorney general, assistant attorneys general, the FBI director, and U.S. attorneys.
- Former Attorney General Pam Bondi had allowed political appointees to attend rallies and fundraisers, and the new memo goes a step further.
- Presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed Justice Department employees are exempt from the more stringent guidelines imposed on administrative law judges and those in the Criminal Division.
- Blanche addressed the Republican midterm convention in September and attended a rally for a North Carolina Republican Senate candidate.
- Blanche said of those appearances, "I am not in any way violating any rule or law."
The Right View
CBS News, citing a memo first reported by PBS News, described the new guidance as exempting presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed DOJ employees from stricter limits that still apply to other staff such as administrative law judges and Criminal Division employees, and contrasted it with Biden-era bans on even personal attendance at partisan events. The Washington Examiner focused on Blanche dismissing criticism that he is mixing official business with politics after a Justice Department event in South Carolina with Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), quoting him as saying it was not his first trip there. Center reporting also noted Blanche’s prior Republican convention and North Carolina rally appearances and his claim that those events were in a personal capacity.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive: it is grounded in a named memo, identified officials and specific written changes to DOJ ethics rules, not a single party’s uncorroborated word. Established facts include the Laurie memo’s contents as reported, Blanche’s campaign-related appearances, his denial of any legal violation, and the contrast with 2024 restrictions. Claims that Blanche is politicizing the Justice Department remain criticism, not a proven finding. No left-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for public release of the memo, any ethics or Hatch Act review, and official DOJ or congressional responses.
3 sources
More stories
The week's bottom lines, in your inbox
One email a week: the five stories that mattered and what they actually mean. Free.