Attorney General Todd Blanche has repeatedly participated in campaign events and spoken in partisan terms about the coming midterm elections since his confirmation last month, despite criticism that he violated a longstanding Justice Department principle of steering clear of electoral politics. This week he waded again into those waters — twice. Since August, Mr. Blanche has come under fire for making campaign-tinged public appearances and comments. Last month, at a rally-style event on Long Island, he praised Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor of New York. Last week, Mr. Blanche delivered remarks at the Republican Party's midterm convention. On Tuesday, he stood at the White House podium and disparaged Democratic lawmakers while invoking the coming election, dismissing their concerns about artificial intelligence as 'nothing but an effort to influence the midterms.' And on Wednesday, Mr. Blanche spoke at a campaign rally for Michael Whatley, the Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina. Echoing his convention speech, he portrayed crime rates, which continued a long-term downward trend to reach new lows in 2025, as 'President Trump and Vice President Vance delivering on a promise.'

Worries about the Justice Department abandoning its long-held commitment to appear apolitical in order to maintain institutional credibility may seem beside the point. Since January 2025, dozens of judges have viewed its representations with suspicion, eroding the traditional bonds of trust, known as the 'presumption of regularity,' that the courts typically grant the department. The second Trump administration has also unabashedly destroyed the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from the White House in investigative decisions. Early on, Mr. Blanche's predecessor, Pam Bondi, declared, 'We are so proud to work at the directive of Donald Trump.' Last September, after Mr. Trump publicly demanded that she charge several perceived adversaries, the department pushed through short-lived indictments of two of them. Still, Mr. Blanche is dismantling another post-Watergate principle: that Justice Department leaders stay away from partisan politicking. Joseph Tirrell, the Justice Department's senior ethics official until the Trump administration dismissed him in July 2025, earlier this week criticized Mr. Blanche's participation in the Republican convention. He called the attorney general's comments at the White House briefing 'borderline' unethical, and his participation in the North Carolina rally 'terrible.' 'In my former role, I would have advised the attorney general not to go to the White House and not to make comments about members of Congress within 45 days of an election,' Mr. Tirrell said. Referring to a law restricting partisan political activity by government employees, he added: 'I'd say, 'That rally sounds like a Hatch Act violation to me, and I'd advise you not to do it.' I would want to scare that person straight.' Stephen Gillers, a New York University law professor who specializes in legal ethics, said Mr. Blanche's political statements and activities were protected by the First Amendment, and did not violate professional conduct rules, even if they were ill-advised. 'Any attempt to discipline him will fail,' Professor Gillers said. 'That's unfortunate. He has the ability to do what he's doing, and he's chosen to do it.'