Blanche gained’t rule out DOJ post-election motion in a ‘doomsday’ situation

NORFOLK, Va. — Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday left open the likelihood that the Justice Department might search to dam states from certifying votes within the midterm elections, although Blanche insisted it wasn’t his intention to “improperly intrude with elections.”

NBC News reported this week that the Justice Department is weighing extra election-related litigation in opposition to states, following a lawsuit in opposition to California to compel state officers to assessment 18,000 registered voters the DOJ suspected might be noncitizens in search of to forged fraudulent ballots. California has an all-mail election and sends out ballots mechanically.

Seven different states and Washington, D.C., do, too: Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington state. Mail voting has often been a goal for President Donald Trump’s voter fraud claims, which have escalated forward of the 2026 midterms, at the same time as he makes use of the voting technique to forged his poll in Florida.

The authorized threats come amid a broader marketing campaign by the Trump administration to zero in on what voting experts say is a relatively rare phenomenon of voting by noncitizens.

The Justice Department’s function in U.S. elections is proscribed by regulation, mainly permitting it to safeguard civil rights and prosecute people who violate election regulation.

While non-public residents and candidates can sue to problem ballots or election outcomes, there aren’t any U.S. legal guidelines that say the Justice Department can problem ballots or delay certification. U.S. elections are run by state and native officers, who’re charged with certifying outcomes.

On Thursday, Blanche was requested by reporters whether or not he might rule out any motion by the Justice Department that would search to delay the counting of ballots.

“It is just not DOJ’s intention to, and it’s by no means our intention to, improperly intrude with elections or the state affirmation course of or certification course of,” he advised reporters earlier than he boarded a aircraft.

Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel traveled to Norfolk for a press convention Thursday to announce racketeering fees against an 82-year-old Virginia state senator.

Blanche mentioned there might be some “doomsday” situation through which the Justice Department would search to get entangled in state and native election officers’ certification course of.

“To say that there’s no circumstances that we’d ever try this …. after all, I’m not going to say that,” he mentioned. “But am I planning my days across the election to be someplace to not certify? Of course not.”