The Standing Record

This is the Standing Record for October 10, 2026. We recorded 1 event from October 9, 2026 that erode our democratic ideals and added 11 more from earlier dates — 123 so far this month, bringing the total archive to 2416. If you saw something happen — yesterday, or any other day — that belongs here, send it to our tip line.

PBS News revealed a DOJ ethics memo exempting Blanche and other Senate-confirmed appointees from the department's stricter political-activity limits

Event: October 9, 2026 Location: Washington, D.C. Jurisdiction: Federal Abuses: Politicization of the Justice Department

An internal Justice Department memo obtained by PBS News and reported on October 9, 2026 showed that the department's top ethics official had revised its Hatch Act guidance to exempt presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed officials -- including Attorney General Todd Blanche -- from the "further restricted" rules that bar senior officials from addressing political rallies or endorsing candidates. The October revision also dropped earlier guidance, carried in a March 2026 version issued under Attorney General Pam Bondi, that Senate-confirmed officials avoid public appearances in a state shortly before its elections. A Justice Department spokesperson said the update "clarifies an existing exception under the Hatch Act" rather than changing the rules.

People & Organizations: - U.S. Department of Justice#1afa4900 (Departmental Ethics Office)

Read the full entry: https://standingrecord.com/entries/2026/10/09/federal-politicization-of-doj-5e3c9ca5/ Primary source: As Blanche hits the campaign trail, new DOJ memo relaxes rules around political conduct for Senate-approved appointees

Filling out the archive

We're steadily backfilling the archive — working backward through the record so the timeline is complete, not just current. These are older events we've archived over the past day. If you know of something from months or years back that belongs here, send it to our tip line.

• May 21, 2020 — Complaint revealed GEO Group staff at Adelanto ICE center were spraying a corrosive disinfectant in detainee housing every 15–30 minutes
• July 3, 2025 — Kimberly Guilfoyle sought $100,000 from Trump donor Eric Deters while promising him administration access, texts show
• September 29, 2025 — HUD fired fair housing attorney Palmer Heenan and moved to fire Paul Osadebe a week after their whistleblower report went public
• October 4, 2025 — Pentagon kept federalized Oregon Guard troops at Portland ICE facility for hours after judge blocked their deployment
• October 31, 2025 — Trump White House barred reporters from the press secretary's West Wing offices without a prior appointment
• October 31, 2025 — Border Patrol agents shoved Chicago Ald. Rodriguez-Sanchez and fired pepper balls at a crowd during Halloween arrests in Albany Park
• August 18, 2026 — Trump bought up to $5 million in SpaceX bonds two days before signing a memorandum to expand commercial space launches
• October 8, 2026 — Trump urged Minnesotans to 'fight back' against Somali immigrants he said were taking over the state
• October 8, 2026 — Marshall Project investigation revealed ICE held children and families in hotels where relatives and lawyers could not find them
• October 8, 2026 — Trump disclosed 517 August securities trades, including up to $25 million in Meta stock
• October 8, 2026 — Rep. Danny Williams used the authority of his office to benefit two nonprofits and a company he co-owned, according to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission

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