How Trump’s justice department is testing separation of powers before the US midterms

Ahead of the midterm elections, the Justice Department under Attorney General Todd Blanche is acting in ways that break with its decades-old habit of staying out of campaigns, raising concern that it could aid Donald Trump if he tried to undermine results in races where Republicans are expected to lose ground. Federal agents searched the Washington home of Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a Trump critic seeking re-election, as part of a reported immigration fraud inquiry that may aim at stripping her citizenship. The attorney general has also campaigned for Republican candidates, and the FBI released a video attacking Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and other Democrats. California was told to verify the citizenship of 20,000 residents within 48 hours and was sued after refusing. Press releases with arrest photos have publicized voter fraud charges against noncitizens, though such voting is very rare and court filings say little about whether defendants knew they were ineligible, according to The Guardian.

A department official said no rule prevents action near an election and described the 60-day blackout as informal. Written manual provisions, however, bar steps meant to affect an election. In 2024, Blanche invoked the blackout practice against special counsel Jack Smith.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →