Trent McCotter is the acting number two official at the U.S. Justice Department.

Posted by The NPR Politics Podcast, Oct 26, 2026Checked Nov 2, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 5 support1 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 93%

The NPR Politics PodcastOct 26, 2026

Multiple sources, including a DOJ staff profile and AP coverage from October 19, 2026, identify Trent McCotter as Acting Deputy Attorney General, the Justice Department's number two official, as of the 2026-10-26 posting date. The extracted claim matches the passage's wording and no source contradicts it.

A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.

This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.

What we found

Supports. The official DOJ staff profile lists Trent McCotter as Acting Deputy Attorney General, with service dates from 2026 to present, and says he became acting DAG on August 10, 2026.[2]

Supports. AP reported on October 19, 2026 that Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter spoke at a Los Angeles news conference about the California noncitizen voting cases.[1]

Supports. Votebeat (October 30) and Governor Newsom's office (October 31) both describe McCotter as acting Deputy Attorney General, with Newsom calling him the number two official at the Justice Department.[3][4]

Supports. Talking Points Memo (August 13, 2026) reported McCotter had just been installed as acting deputy attorney general, describing him as the No. 2 political appointee at DOJ.[5]

Context. A Bloomberg Law report from April 2026 describes McCotter's earlier role as principal associate deputy attorney general, which predates his acting DAG appointment and does not conflict with the claim.[6]