DOJ Allows Fed Lawyers to Publicize Probes That May Interfere With Elections: Report

The Department of Justice emailed federal prosecutors Friday to announce “an exception to the general non-interference with elections policy,” ProPublica reports. The policy change deviates from decades of DOJ policy aimed at avoiding affecting election results, which generally prohibited U.S. attorneys from publicizing ongoing investigations into voting-related crimes close to election days, as such a move could tilt an election one way or another. Now, however, Justice Department attorneys will be permitted to disclose investigations, and the email makes special note of alleged crimes committed by military members or postal workers: “The integrity of any component of the federal government is implicated by election offenses within the scope of the policy including but not limited to misconduct by federal officials or employees administering an aspect of the voting process through the United States Postal Service, the Department of Defense or any other federal department or agency,” the memo reads.