DOJ could block election certification in doomsday scenario

🗞️ Story file #838

DOJ could block election certification in doomsday scenario

Oct 22, 4 PM ET to Oct 24, 10 AM ET · 1 outlet not rated for lean

11outlets carried it
🫏6 · 1 · 3🐘left · center · right
1.7 dayson the front pages
10front pages at once, at its peak
13 minof TV captions
13people retold it online

👣 How this story traveled: from the front pages that broke it, out through TV, radio and the shows, into what people retold and what fact-checkers examined, and on into the saga it is part of. Everything here is matched to the story by our tools, so a link can be wrong; the trackers' pages say how each is made.

Oct 22, 4 PM ETfirst on a front page: The New Republic
Oct 23, 8 AM ETretold online by 13 people
Oct 23, 1 PM ETpeak: on 10 front pages
Oct 23, 9 PM ETfirst on TV: MSNOW

the front pages that ran it, hour by hour

Front pages carrying it at each hourly run, Oct 22, 4 PM to Oct 24, 10 AM ET (peak 10), by the outlets' lean: left · center · right · not rated

Who carried it and when: each outlet in the order it picked the story up, a bar for each headline from when we first saw it on the front page to when we last did, in the outlet's lean color (dashed: not rated); a dot marks a new headline. Beneath, its captions on TV, the radio newscasts that carried it (bigger: the lead) and when people were found retelling it. Hover for details.

💬 quoted: “doomsday” 5 “Of course” “doomsday scenario” 4 “improperly interfere”

✏️ 1 outlet ran more than one headline on it (reworded, or a follow-up)

Fox News (2 wordings): “Blanche leaves door open to DOJ action on election certification in 'doomsday' scenario” → “Blanche won't rule out DOJ blocking election certification in 'doomsday' scenario”

Every outlet's first headline (11), left to right by AllSides rating

Raw Story Todd Blanche: 'Of course' DOJ would block states from certifying elections in some cases Oct 22, 2 PM ET
The Daily Beast Todd Blanche Refuses to Rule Out Election Interference Oct 22, 2 PM ET
The Guardian Todd Blanche fails to rule out DoJ weighing in on states’ election results certifying process Oct 22, 2 PM ET
The New Republic Todd Blanche Floats Chilling Likelihood of Trump Election Interference Oct 22, 4 PM ET
NBC News Blanche won’t rule out DOJ post-election action in a ‘doomsday’ scenario Oct 22, 2 PM ET
Yahoo News Blanche says DOJ could block election certification in 'doomsday scenario' Oct 23, 3 AM ET
The Hill Blanche: DOJ could block election certification in ‘doomsday scenario’ Oct 23, 1 PM ET
Just the News AG Blanche says DOJ has no plans to 'improperly interfere' with states certifying votes Oct 22, 3 PM ET
Fox News Blanche leaves door open to DOJ action on election certification in 'doomsday' scenario Oct 23, 5 AM ET
Newsmax Blanche Cites 'Doomsday' Scenario for DOJ Election Role Oct 23, 9 PM ET
Talking Points Memo Todd Blanche Gets Sucked Into Trump World’s Pre-Midterms Drama Oct 21, 9 AM ET

TV, radio, and the shows that talked about it

📺 On TV

CNN10 min

MSNOW3 min

TRUMP ORDERS DOJ TO BLOCK RESULTS IF HIS CANDIDATE LOSES CNN, 9 min
DOJ DOOMSDAY SCENARIO IS A 63-YEAR-OLD RETIRED TEACHER MSNOW, 2 min
GOP PANIC ON DISPLAY IN FINAL STRETCH TO MIDTERMS MSNOW, 75 s
BLANCHE WON'T RULE OUT DOJ POST-ELECTION ACTION IN "DOOMSDAY SCENARIO" CNN, 58 s
AG BLANCHE: IT'S NEVER OUR "INTENTION" TO INTERFERE IN ELECTIONS. Sen. Andy Kim | (D) New Jersey CNN, 25 s
DOJ "DOOMSDAY SCENARIO" IS A 3-YEAR-OLD RETIRED TEACHER MSNOW, 16 s

what people online made of it

🧩 How it's being told

The stories under this news, from our motif index, and who told each: the shows we follow by their lean, people online, fact-checkers. A story people tell, not a claim that it's true; claims are matched to this story by our tools, so a link can be wrong.

🧩 Executive overreach 🧶 online
↔️ its answer: Checks and balances
“Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested the Justice Department might improperly interfere in elections if circumstances require it.”
🧩 They're going to steal it 🧶 online
“Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested the Justice Department might improperly interfere in elections if circumstances require it.”

🧶 Retold online

Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested the Justice Department might improperly interfere in elections if circumstances require it. Oct 23: told by 13 people
🦋 Widely seen on Bluesky

🦋 a post on Bluesky · 22 likes, 4 reposts
🦋 a post on Bluesky · 7 likes, 3 reposts

On Folklore: the latest in full, with their motifs and who is telling them.

🗣️ names in it: Todd Blanche Justice Department AG Blanche Trump World

what the fact-checkers looked into

🧐 No fact-checker has taken it on yet.

the running story it belongs to

🌱 A story of its own so far: no saga yet.