{
  "id": 15394028,
  "title": "How Trump’s justice department is testing separation of powers before the US midterms",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/how-trumps-justice-department-is-testing-separation-of-powers-before",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-18T10:00:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Guardian US",
    "slug": "the-guardian-us",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/oct/18/trump-justice-department-us-midterms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been increasingly involved in the midterms, violating traditional norms. Attorney General Todd Blanche has been campaigning for Republican candidates, federal agents have raided the home of a Democratic congresswoman, and the DOJ has charged and arrested non-citizens accused of voter fraud. The DOJ also asked California officials to investigate the citizenship of 20,000 people, and sued when they refused. The FBI published a video criticizing a Democratic Senate candidate, which was strongly condemned. On Monday, federal agents raided the DC home of Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, part of an immigration fraud investigation. Experts say the DOJ has been avoiding actions that might influence elections, but the current administration has pushed out those experts and directed staff to political appointees. The DOJ has no specific rule against taking action close to an election, but it is generally advised against. There is a practice of a 60-day blackout before an election, but this seems to have been disregarded. The DOJ has been publicly announcing voter fraud charges with photos of arrests, which is unusual. The department also sent Los Angeles election officials a USB-drive with names of potential non-citizens on the county's rolls, asking them to investigate and segregate ballots. LA officials declined to access the drive due to security concerns.",
  "summary": "From the attorney general stumping for Republican candidates to federal agents raiding the home of a Democratic congresswoman up for re-election, the department is violating long-standing norms Donald Trump’s justice department has aggressively inserted itself into the midterm elections in the contest’s final weeks, shattering the department’s longstanding practice of political neutrality and…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "ERR News Estonia",
        "title": "Expert: Trump's recent decisions have nothing to do with midterms",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/18/expert-trumps-recent-decisions-have-nothing-to-do-with-midterms",
        "published": "2026-10-18T06:20:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}