Facts
- The Justice Department has taken several politically sensitive actions in recent weeks, with the midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, the Associated Press reported on Thursday, October 29, 2026.
- Federal agents searched the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, this month, seized her phone and issued more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, including to some relatives, the AP reported. The inquiry concerns her immigration paperwork. A federal judge approved the search warrant. Omar is on the ballot Tuesday.
- Two former FBI officials were charged with making false statements to Congress about their knowledge of a laptop the department says belonged to Hunter Biden. Prosecutors filed the charges by criminal complaint rather than a grand jury indictment, which Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui described as unusual, according to the AP.
- Prosecutors are also seeking a third criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, accusing him of leaking classified information about a decade ago, the AP reported. A judge is scheduled to hear arguments Friday on Comey’s motion to dismiss. His legal team calls the new charge legally invalid and politically motivated.
- The AP also reported an unsuccessful attempt by the department to indict a former White House aide who testified about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The AP did not name the aide.
- The department has a long-standing, informal practice, not a written rule, of avoiding overt actions close to an election, according to the AP’s account. Successive attorneys general have issued memos reminding employees not to take investigative steps meant to help or hurt a candidate.
- In a statement, the department said it is following the facts and the law, ‘not anyone’s political timetable,’ and that its policy does not require it to stop ongoing work during an election season.
- David Laufman, a former senior Justice Department official, says the pattern breaks with past practice. President Donald Trump said he knew nothing about the Comey case but called Comey ‘a dirty cop,’ the AP reported.
Quotes
The Justice Department, in a statement: “The standard is purpose, not proximity to Election Day. Department policy does not require the Department to stop ongoing work during an election season.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche, on the Omar warrant: “I can tell you unequivocally that the decision to seek a search warrant had nothing to do with what’s happening in November.”
David Laufman, a former senior Justice Department official, cited “such a brazen disregard for time-honored norms and protocols” in politically sensitive investigations.
James Comey said: “Well, they’re back — again.” He added that he is “still innocent.”
Source Read the Associated Press report on PBS NewsHour here.
Image Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building by APK, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
