White House Official violated the Hatch Act

[James48]

White House Aide Violated Hatch Act With Tweet, Special Counsel Finds


CHARLES S. CLARK | JUNE 9, 2017 4:36 PM ET


President Trump’s White House social media guru this week was given a warning from the Office of Special Counsel that he violated the Hatch Act by tweeting a criticism of a House member in the midst of an April primary election.

Dan Scavino Jr., director of social media and assistant to the president, received a letter of reprimand from the independent governmentwide investigative office for having sent a tweet—from the Oval Office—calling Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., “a big liability” and saying that President Trump’s supporters should “defeat him in [the next] primary.”

A complaint against Scavino was filed by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and separately by the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. They asked OSC to review whether his tweet ran afoul of the Hatch Act’s prohibition on any executive branch employee “us[ing] his official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.”

The Office of Special Counsel, which educates officials on the Hatch Act and enforces compliance, “has concluded that this activity violated the Hatch Act,” OSC told Carper. “Accordingly, we issued Mr. Scavino a warning letter. In addition, we note that Mr. Scavino was recently counseled by the Office of the White House Counsel,” and was warned that any future willful violation would result in further legal action.

more:

http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2017/06/white-house-aide-violated-hatch-act-tweet-special-counsel-finds/138565/

[SunSeeker]

1. The Trump Adminstration needs to learn that what happens on Twitter doesn't stay on Twitter.

It is not a law-free zone where you can say whatever you want without consequences.

[spanone]

2. rotten to the core