President Donald Trump listens as Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks at a roundtable event in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Washington (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).
Everything old is new again as the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal criminal indictment against one of the GOP’s foremost elected foes in Virginia less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
The timing of the charging decision calls into question the so-called “60-day rule,” under which the DOJ advises prosecutors and the FBI to avoid announcing or otherwise taking overt law enforcement actions if such actions could influence an upcoming election.
The rule is informal and unwritten and, while a norm or tradition, has infamously had a hazy and hotly disputed track record.
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On Thursday, during a press conference announcing marijuana, racketeering and money laundering charges against state Sen. Louise Lucas, one of the Old Dominion’s most powerful Democrats, a reporter asked U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche about the rule.
“The typical practice is DOJ doesn’t usually release charges like this this close to an election,” the reporter said. “Even though Ms. Lucas is not on the ballot, her daughter is. So can you speak to the reason for the timing of these charges so close to an upcoming election.”
The nation’s top prosecutor shrugged off the question.
“I think you’re referring to the 60-day or 90-day practice, which is not in writing, that’s not part of the justice manual,” Blanche said. “The justice manual speaks very clearly about what the Department of Justice can and can’t do. And we cannot bring a charge if our purpose is improper. And there’s nothing improper about this purpose.”
The attorney general’s response likely signals the Trump administration‘s position on the rule.
That is, the DOJ seems to believe the 60-day rule poses no real barrier or consideration when charging political candidates or their immediate family members. Notably, Lucas’ daughter, who is also charged, is currently running for a seat on the Portsmouth City Council.
But President Donald Trump himself once strongly disagreed — and disagreed at length — about the nature of the rule.
In fact, Trump has argued for a much longer timeline than 60 days, or even 90 days.
In February 2024, then-candidate Trump complained that then-special counsel Jack Smith’s Mar-a-Lago investigation was improper because it fell too close to the 2024 election.
Trump’s filing referenced the DOJ inspector general’s report on former FBI Director James Comey’s well-documented “mistakes” in — and mishandling of — the Hillary Clinton private email server probe. Such mistakes included making a major law enforcement announcement just days before Clinton lost.
The lead attorney on that defense filing extolling the virtues of the anti-electioneering tradition was Blanche himself.
Trump, for his part, claimed a planned trial date was scheduled to occur too close to voting in the 2024 election. At the time, Smith dismissed those claims by arguing the operative action for the 60-day rule was the indictment. Trump was indicted in the since-dismissed case in June 2023.
In August 2024, Trump brought up the 60-day rule again, in regard to Smith’s Jan. 6-related prosecution, on social media. This time, Trump did in fact complain about an indictment — albeit a superseding indictment — being filed within 60 days of early voting for the 2024 election.
“It is DOJ policy that the Department of Justice should not take any action that will influence an election within 60 days of that election – but they just have taken such action,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Voting starts on September 6th, therefore the DOJ has violated its own policy – Election Interference.”
In the two years since, the president appears to have lost his taste for the 60-day rule.
The post ‘Nothing improper’: Todd Blanche rubbishes DOJ’s ’60-day rule’ in Louise Lucas prosecution, but Trump used to be a huge proponent of the anti-electioneering tradition first appeared on Law & Crime.
