US government office finds Kellyanne Conway violated Hatch Act and recommends her removal
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act on "numerous occasions," the Office of Special Counsel announced Thursday. A letter was sent to President Trump recommending she be removed from federal service. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their office to campaign for or against political candidates. The president and vice president are exempt from the Hatch Act, employees of the White House are not.
The Office of Special Counsel's letter refers to Conway as a “repeat offender" for disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media. “Ms. Conway’s violations, if left unpunished, would send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act’s restrictions. Her actions thus erode the principal foundation of our democratic system—the rule of law," the letter said. The letter follow a March 2018 report in which the Office of Special Counsel found violations over the course of two TV interviews during which Conway advocated for and against candidates in the 2017 Alabama special election for U.S. Senate.
The Office of Special Counsel also notes that Conway "downplayed the significance of the law as applied to her" during a May 29 interview. When asked about the Hatch Act, she stated, “If you’re trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, it’s not going to work,” and “Let me know when the jail sentence starts.” The White House did not immediately issue a statement in reaction to the OSC letter. OSC is an independent agency that "protects federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices," according to its website.
Conway has served as Trump's counselor since the inauguration, often appearing for interviews on behalf of the president. Before that the longtime pollster worked as Trump's campaign manager in the final months of the 2016 campaign. Specific violations listed in the OSC letter pertained to Conway's comments during interviews about several 2020 Democratic candidates. For instance, she insinuated Sen. Cory Booker was “sexist” and a “tinny” “motivational speaker.” She castigated former Rep. Beto O'Rourke “think[ing] the women running are good enough to be President" and said Sen. Elizabeth Warren was "lying” about her ethnicity and “appropriating somebody else’s heritage.” The letter also details her comments about "frontrunners” Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom she referred to as “two old white straight men career politicians." She claimed Biden lacked “vision,” said his announcement video was “very dark and spooky,” and criticized his unwillingness to be “held to account for his record.” Conway said Sanders' ideas were “terrible for America." OSC also determined Conway uses her “@KellyannePolls” account on Twitter to perform her official duties, but also engaged in "significant political activity." This included her retweeted a March 31 messaged that referred to Biden as “Creepy Uncle Joe”
Conway removed her White House title from her Twitter bio, leaving her profile blank, in October 2018, after the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel for potential violations of the Hatch Act.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/office-of-special-counsel-finds-kellyanne-conway-violated-hatch-act-and-recommends-her-removal
Letter & Report
https://www.scribd.com/document/413284225/OSC-Conway-Report#from_embed