Justice Department Proves Neutrality By Campaigning For Republican
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche restored public confidence in impartial federal law enforcement Wednesday by campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley beneath partisan banners in Gastonia, North Carolina. Blanche joined President Donald Trump at a rally for Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman running against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper, demonstrating that the Justice Department can remain above politics while standing on a political stage and asking voters to put a specific politician in office. The appearance modernized the department’s traditional independence rules, replacing them with the more efficient standard of helping whichever candidate happens to be applauding the administration.
Trump praised Blanche for bringing equal justice directly to Republican voters. “People used to say the Justice Department should stay out of elections, but that was before we discovered neutrality means supporting Michael very strongly and examining why anybody would vote for the other person,” Trump said. Blanche emphasized crime and public safety, reassuring North Carolinians that the nation’s second-ranking law enforcement official had taken time away from overseeing federal prosecutions to help one party secure another Senate vote. The arrangement also clarified that prosecutorial discretion now includes deciding whether to deliver remarks before or after the candidate’s introductory video.
Legal ethics observers welcomed the administrative breakthrough, noting that future Justice Department officials can save taxpayers money by combining official travel with campaign appearances, donor receptions and stern lectures about the dangers of politicized law enforcement. Prosecutors could eventually receive department-issued lawn signs, while federal charging documents may include a convenient box allowing defendants to endorse the administration’s preferred candidate before sentencing. Whatley accepted Blanche’s support as entirely unrelated to politics, conveying through applause that nothing says “equal justice under law” like the deputy attorney general warming up a partisan crowd. Cooper’s campaign, meanwhile, continued its reckless effort to politicize the Senate race by running in it, confirming that the Justice Department remained completely neutral by campaigning exclusively for the Republican.
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