fundraiser

Perez Hilton’s website has offered an update on the celebrity gossip blogger’s progress following his apparent August suicide attempt, revealing that he has been allowed to see his children and mother.

“They were first able to spend time together through a few video calls, and since then, Hilton has also been able to see his children and his mom a few times for short, supervised visits at the facility,” according to the site. “Seeing his children in person has meant an enormous amount to Perez. There have definitely been a lot of emotions for everyone, but being able to spend that time together has been incredibly meaningful and healing.”

Hilton, born Mario Lavandeira Jr., experienced a mental health crisis on the night of Aug. 4 in his Miami home and livestreamed himself engaging in self-harm with a box cutter and knife as followers pleaded with him to stop and attempted to contact him.

Hilton spent weeks in the hospital receiving treatment for his physical injuries before being transferred to a residential treatment program, where he could “focus fully on his mental health and recovery,” according to a family statement from earlier this month.

In August, Hilton was granted supervised visits with his children.

However, Hilton’s brother-in-law said on a podcast on Aug. 24 that Hilton had not had any contact with his kids, as “they were not allowed in that section of the facility.”

Tuesday’s update also publicized a GoFundMe fundraiser created for Hilton’s mother, Teresita Lavandeira, and Hilton’s three school-age children. The fundraiser, organized by theater producer Tom D’Angora, who has described himself as a longtime friend of Hilton’s, promised that “none of the money will be used for Perez personally.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the fundraiser had raised about $14,000 out of its $25,000 goal. D’Angora was not immediately available for comment.

“Like any grandmother who suddenly finds herself responsible for raising three growing children, she’s also taken on significant and unexpected expenses,” the fundraiser website says. “Perez’s family and friends are helping however we can. We also wanted to give the many people who have asked how they can help a way to do so.”

The site’s Tuesday update said there was still no available timeline for when Perez would exit residential treatment.

“Communication with Perez is still limited, and we’re not able to talk to him daily,” the statement read.

But it assured that he was making progress.

“He’s continuing to work with his care team on understanding what led to his mental health crisis, recognizing warning signs, learning better ways to cope, and working through everything that brought him to this point,” according to the site.

Hilton has been a controversial media figure since the mid-2000s, when he launched a celebrity gossip blog called PageSixSixSix. After the New York Post sued him, he rebranded it to Perez Hilton, a play on socialite Paris Hilton’s name.

During its heyday, Hilton’s successful website — on which he would publish mocking posts about Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and spread conspiracy theories about celebrity deaths — generated about 8 million page views a day, The Times’ columnist Robin Abcarian wrote recently. In 2010, he declined a $20-million offer for his website, according to reporting by the now-defunct outlet Gawker.

WASHINGTON — Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche is blurring traditional boundaries between politics and federal law enforcement with recent speeches at political events that mark a sharp departure from norms meant to protect the Justice Department from the appearance of partisan bias.

Blanche took the stage this week at an event for a Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina days after speaking at a GOP midterm convention, where he praised Trump and touted the administration’s tough-on-crime approach.

Blanche’s participation at the rallies has drawn scrutiny from critics who say it threatens to undermine public faith in law enforcement decisions that are supposed to be made free of political interference. It has added to critics’ concerns about Blanche’s loyalty to Trump and White House influence on Justice Department matters against the backdrop of investigations into numerous perceived foes of the president.

“It lends credence to the arguments that the Justice Department is hopelessly politicized,” said Richard Painter, who was a White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration. “And that’s not where we want to be right now.”

Blanche has brushed aside norms

Attorneys general have typically stayed away from political rallies and at arm’s length from the White House to prevent the appearance of law enforcement interference in elections and to protect the perception of impartiality in prosecutions.

Blanche, a former personal lawyer for Trump, has brushed aside such norms and fiercely defended the president’s interests in the department, which brought two criminal cases against Trump under President Joe Biden. Blanche has rejected allegations that the Trump administration has politicized the agency and accusations that the White House is improperly involved in department matters.

Blanche has used his speeches at the rallies to promote the administration’s efforts to bring down violent crime, illegal border crossings and drug trafficking as Republicans put their tough-on-crime policies at the center of the midterm elections. In another unusual move, he held a press briefing at the White House this week, fielding questions from reporters on a host of matters including the Iran war.

At an event Wednesday in North Carolina for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley, Blanche told the crowd, “More of your family, more of your friends, more of your community members, more of your loved ones are safer than they were just two years ago.”

“And that’s President Trump and Vice President Vance delivering on a promise that they made to you,” said Blanche, calling Trump “the greatest president of our generation.” His speech also veered into topics outside his law enforcement portfolio such as the stock market, inflation and wage growth.

Blanche says he is not endorsing candidates at political events

The Justice Department said Blanche’s appearances at political events are made in his personal capacity, and noted that his speeches have addressed the administration’s efforts broadly but do not get into agency policies or official business.

“His appearances are reviewed and cleared by the Department’s ethics officials,” spokesperson Kiersten Pels said in an email Thursday. “Travel expenses are reimbursed by the Attorney General in accordance with federal law, regulations, and policies.”

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Blanche dismissed criticism about his appearance at a Long Island event where Trump sought to boost Republican candidates in closely contested races.

The watchdog group Public Citizen filed a complaint accusing Blanche of violating a law that limits political activity by government workers by participating in that event alongside Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, the Trump-endorsed Republican challenging Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“I will always say yes to speak when the president of the United States asks me to,” Blanche told the AP last month. “I was there purely thanking cops, law enforcement, for doing their jobs. The idea that that’s turned into somehow criticism is laughable.” Blanche said he was not endorsing political candidates but instead “talking about the great work that President Trump is doing.”

Federal law and Justice Department policy limit political activity

The Hatch Act prohibits government officials from using their official positions to influence elections. That includes supporting candidates while acting in their official capacities. Watchdog groups have long complained that the law isn’t a strong deterrent and enforcement has been inadequate and uneven.

The Justice Department under Biden in 2022 tightened its restrictions on employees’ attendance at political events after then-Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins attended a fundraiser that featured first lady Jill Biden. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was fired by Trump in April, later rescinded those restrictions.

Rollins’ attendance at the fundraiser sparked an outcry from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, who sought an investigation and wrote a letter asserting that U.S. attorneys are supposed to act as nonpartisan law enforcement officials rather than as partisan politicians. Rollins resigned in 2023 after the Justice Department’s internal watchdog accused her of broad misconduct.

Before those changes, longstanding department policy had allowed political appointees — who are hired under presidential administrations rather than making long careers at the agency — to attend political events in their personal capacities if they participated “passively” and obtained prior approval.

Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, barred their attendance at fundraisers and other campaign events altogether, saying it was necessary to ensure that politics “both in fact and appearance” won’t affect how the law is enforced or inquiries are carried out.

Richer writes for the Associated Press.