Post

Dying at the right-wing activists that (1) held a call with Todd Blanche in which Blanche made a lot of anti-abortion promises, (2) said "uh this is off the record" like doing so would magically ward off journalists, and then (3) UPLOADED IT TO THEIR YOUTUBE CHANNEL www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

335 reposts1.3K likes

it's a very good thing the pedophile protecting dredges of humanity are so fucking inept and bad at everything, or we might be in much worse trouble. on the record to Todd: 🖕, you fucking plague upon this earth

Members of the jury, that phone call with Big Vinnie was off the record. You can hear Johnny Two Fingers say so, right on the tape, just after the part about the cement shoes.

Sounds like Intercessors for America is selling indulgences. "They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory." — Martin Luther

The video linked in the Politico piece has been taken down now. I'd be interested to watch/listen if anyone knows an alternate link where it can be found.

So what is the journalistic rule of thumb here? If a journalist was on the call would he even have any responsibility to take this "off record" since it sounds like anyone might have been able to join the call.

It's a matter of ethics, but generally speaking, if one person says it's off the record, it's not off the record until the other person agrees. And even then, once it's published for the world to see on YouTube, it's no longer off the record.

You better hurry Toadie. You don’t have much time. Starting January, you’ll be testifying frequently! Then you’ll be looking for a good landing spot starting in 2029! Believe me, you’re not a prized catch, considering being Trumps lover and personal attorney! Save your blood money; you’ll need it!

"Off the record" is an agreement between a journalist and a source, and the agreement must take place BEFORE the disclosure of "off the record" information. You can't unilaterally assert it, and it isn't retroactive. You also definitely can't assert it once you, uh, post it on YouTube.

myskhin.bsky.social@myskhin.bsky.social

So what is the journalistic rule of thumb here? If a journalist was on the call would he even have any responsibility to take this "off record" since it sounds like anyone might have been able to join the call.

Power analysis is good here, though often ignored. Random small-time sources may not be familiar with journalistic quirks. In those cases IMO it's on the journalist to explain them. But government officials should know the game and if not, joke's on them.

The details are a little fuzzy, but I think what happened is even funnier: The call was *hosted* by the White House Faith Office and *posted* by a religious activist group, which once again affirms that the people in charge of the government right now are some of the stupidest motherfuckers alive

Melissa has the transcript and yes it was the *White House Faith Office* that tried to do the unilateral “off the record” declaration, beautiful stuff

Melissa Gira Grant@melissagiragrant.com

I’ve listened to the whole call. Here’s how the call kicks off:

as far as I can tell, this is a monthly call convened by the White House Faith Office, chaired by Paula White-Cain (who kindly offered a prayer before Trump's speech at the ellipse on January 6). Intercessors for America posted it for reasons unknown!

a quick rule of thumb is that off-the-record means you agree not to publish and not attribute the information to anyone in further reporting you'll also see things called "on background" which is that you are able to publish was was said, but you can't attribute it to a specific person

I thought being off the record was a two-way decision ( both journalist and person have to agree beforehand). I think many people magically believe that saying something is off the record automatically makes it so. They may have watched too many law related TV shows.

It has to be requested beforehand (although a reporter can give someone a break). The reporter can agree, try to convince them to speak OTR or OTR anonymously, or end the interview. But that's for individual people. I've never heard of an entire federal agency trying to go OTR during an open event.