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Jay Willis
@jaywillis.net

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...

Jay Willis
@jaywillis.net

"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.

Jay Willis
@jaywillis.net

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

23 reposts220 likes

Jay Willis
@jaywillis.net

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:

feminazghul.bsky.social
@feminazghul.bsky.social

I've heard a standard announcement that asks the press not to ask questions if there's an open Q&A, but obviously there are huge problems with a government agency trying to hold an off-the-record public event and exclude the press all together.

Melissa Gira Grant
@melissagiragrant.com

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!

Jay Willis
@jaywillis.net

Yeah it's not totally clear to me from Politico's last few grafs whether the "this is off the record, journos hang up" came from the Faith Office or Intercessors. But it doesn't matter because both are extremely funny.