President Donald Trump listens as Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a roundtable in the White House East Room on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The political past is echoing again. Less than two weeks before the midterm elections, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a federal criminal indictment against one of Virginia’s most prominent Democratic officeholders.
The timing has renewed scrutiny of the DOJ’s informal “60-day rule,” a longstanding practice advising prosecutors and the FBI to avoid announcing charges or taking overt law enforcement action when it could affect an approaching election.
The guideline is neither written nor formally binding. Instead, it exists as a norm whose history has been marked by uncertainty, controversy and competing interpretations.
During a Thursday news conference announcing marijuana, racketeering and money-laundering charges against state Sen. Louise Lucas, one of Virginia’s most influential Democrats, a reporter asked Attorney General Todd Blanche to explain the decision to proceed so close to Election Day.
“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?”
Blanche dismissed the concern.
“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 answer appears to outline the Trump administration’s position: The informal election-related guideline does not prevent prosecutors from bringing charges when they conclude the action is otherwise proper.
In practical terms, the DOJ appears to view the 60-day tradition as no significant obstacle when the targets are political candidates or members of their immediate families. Lucas’ daughter, who was also charged, is running for a seat on the Portsmouth City Council.
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That position stands in sharp contrast to arguments President Donald Trump made before returning to office.
Trump previously argued that election-related restrictions should apply for considerably longer than 60 days — or even 90 days.
In February 2024, then-candidate Trump said special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into classified documents at Mar-a-Lago was improper because it was unfolding too close to the 2024 election.
Trump’s filing cited a Justice Department inspector general’s report detailing former FBI Director James Comey’s documented “mistakes” and mishandling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Among those errors was a major law enforcement announcement made just days before Clinton lost the election.
Blanche was the lead attorney on that defense filing, which praised the anti-electioneering tradition.
Trump also argued that the planned trial date in the Mar-a-Lago case was too close to the 2024 vote. Smith rejected that claim, saying the relevant action under the 60-day practice was the indictment itself. Trump had been indicted in the case, which has since been dismissed, in June 2023.
Trump returned to the issue in August 2024 while criticizing Smith’s prosecution related to Jan. 6. This time, he objected to a superseding indictment filed within 60 days of the start of early voting for that year’s 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.”
Two years later, the president appears to have changed his view of the 60-day rule.
The post ‘Nothing improper’: Todd Blanche dismisses DOJ’s ’60-day rule’ in Louise Lucas prosecution, despite Trump’s past defense of the anti-electioneering tradition, first appeared on Law & Crime.
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