Ex-Trump officials illegally campaigned while in office: Report

An independent US government investigation has found that at least 13 senior Trump administration officials have repeatedly and knowingly violated United States law that prohibits political activity while in federal office.

In a report on Tuesday, the US Office of Special Councils (OSC) said former officials violated the Hatch Act in relation to former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and the controversial holding of the 2020 Republican National Convention on White House grounds .

It said government resources were repeatedly used to promote Trump’s 2020 political campaign, which “appears to be a taxpayer-funded campaign mechanism within the upper echelons of the executive branch”.

“The administration’s willful disregard for the law was particularly damaging,” the office said in its 59-page report, which lays the blame entirely at Trump’s feet. “The President’s refusal to require compliance with the law laid the foundation for the violation.”

The Hatch Act, first passed by Congress in 1939, is intended to prevent federal employees from engaging in political advocacy while performing official duties. This exempts the president and vice president and is difficult to enforce against political appointees, especially once they leave office.

Former US ambassador to Israel David Friedman, senior adviser and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows were among those identified in the OSC report. . violated the law.

The findings come as Miller, McEnany and other Trump aides were subpoenaed by a US House of Representatives panel on Tuesday. investigating The deadly Capitol rebellion earlier this year.

Trump reiterated for weeks false claims That widespread voter fraud had affected the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden. after her delivery a fiery speech In Washington, DC, on January 6, a crowd of his supporters stormed the Capitol Building as Congress met to testify Biden’s victory.

The former Republican president has since tried fighting efforts The January 6 investigation by the House committee to obtain White House documents was politically motivated.

Benny Thompson said, “We need to know what role the former president and his aides played in the efforts to block the counting of electoral votes and if they were in contact with anyone outside the White House who could try to reverse the election results.” were trying.” Who presides over the House Panel, a. said in Statement Announcing the new summons.

The Select Committee issued summons for the records and testimony of the following persons:
️Nicolas Luna
️Molly Michael
️Ben Williamson
️Christopher Liddell
️John McEnty
️Keith Kellogg
️Kayleigh McEnany
️Stephen Miller
Cassidy Hutchinson
️Kenneth Klukowski

— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) November 9, 2021

‘Blow the law’

In Tuesday’s report, the OSC said it had received hundreds of complaints of alleged Hatch Act violations by senior Trump administration officials during the 2020 election campaign.

The report said the office found “extensive” examples of “decisions by some in the Trump administration to violate the law” and “with the approval of the administration.”

In August last year, Trump hosted a primetime segment of the Republican National Convention (RNC) from the White House as he ran for re-election.

He also used the White House as a stage for the convention, sparking outrage from Democrats, who said at the time that doing so violated the Hatch Act but that nothing could be done to stop it.

The report said the RNC programs “orchestrated with the aim of creating material for the convention” were White House naturalization ceremonies for new citizens featuring Trump and then-caretaker Homeland Security Chad Wolf.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also gave a recorded speech to the RNC from Jerusalem, breaking decades of precedent To avoid openly partisan political activity by secretaries of state, especially when overseas on government business.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the Republican National Convention in Jerusalem on August 25, 2020 [File: Republican National Convention/Handout via Reuters]

Pompeo is among several Republicans who are considered a potential contender for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination if Trump does not run.

According to the report, in media interviews conducted from official positions, Trump political appointees – including senior adviser Kellyanne Conway – openly promoted Trump’s re-election and humiliated Biden.

“This report confirms that keeping Donald Trump in office was nothing less than a systematic co-optation of the federal government’s powers,” said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Said, a non-government watchdog.

Enforcement of the Hatch Act’s prohibition against political activity by federal employees occurs primarily through presidential and administrative disciplinary proceedings.

As a result, there is “currently no mechanism” to hold Trump administration officials who have already left the office accountable, said the OSC, an independent investigative and prosecuting agency that works to enforce regulations within the 1.8 million-member US federal workforce. applies.

Biden administration officials have also violated the Hatch Act since taking office in January.

Crew filed a complaint last month against White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki for appearing during a White House press conference to endorse former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat. McAuliffe was running for re-election to his old position in Virginia’s November 2 elections.

The OSC issued a warning in May to the Biden administration’s housing and urban development secretary Marcia Fudge to say that Democrats have “a good shot” at winning the US Senate seat in Ohio next year that was vacated by Republican Rob Portman. being done.