An administration that often exhibits ostentatious pride in bursting through norms did so yet again Tuesday afternoon, when Attorney General Todd Blanche took a turn as de facto White House press secretary. Blanche spoke to reporters in the Rose Garden, mixing together commentary on legal matters, praise of Defense Secretary Pete…
Page B1From§Eachthe late evening edition — 15 September 2026
Attorney general takes podium to defend president's rage at court whose ruling he just obeyed.
“The guy whose actual job is prosecuting election fraud just stood in the Rose Garden and said his boss has "every right" to call the fraud in advance, before a single mail ballot's counted. That's not free speech, that's the ref promising the call before kickoff. He complies with the ruling on paper and spends the same breath telling you not to trust it — and come November, he's the guy who decides what counts as legitimate.”
“Look, the Attorney General complied with the ruling, full stop — total deference to the Court, that's the actual story here, not whatever people are — okay, fine, and yes he also said the president has "every right" to call the outcome rigged in advance, but that's just a citizen exercising free speech, it just happens that citizen runs the Justice Department that's supposed to enforce the ruling he's — you know, forget I said that part.”
Earlier in this story
- Trump's attorney general vows to comply with a ruling he insists will cause cheating. By Chip · the late evening edition, 15 September 2026
The receipts
The DOJ disbanded its crypto enforcement team in April 2025 and ordered inconsistent investigations closed - while the president's family runs a crypto business CNBC, 8 April 2025 (Blanche memo)
Blanche says Trump has ‘every right’ to express frustration with the Supreme CourtAttorney General Todd Blanche defended President Donald Trump‘s criticism of the conservative Supreme Court justices who decided against the administration’s efforts to restrict mail-in ballots before this November’s midterm elections. During a White House press briefing in the Rose Garden, Blanche contended that Trump has “every right…
· Appeals Court Rejects 'Likely Unlawful' Trump Push to Undermine Mail-In Voting as Supreme Court Looms from the morgue, 10 Sep 2026
· 250+ Current, Former Lawmakers Urge Supreme Court to Block Trump Attack on Mail Voting from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.