At least 13 Trump officials illegally campaigned while in office, federal investigation finds

[underpants]

Source: Washington Post

At least 13 senior Trump administration officials illegally mixed governing with campaigning before the 2020 election, intentionally ignoring a law that prohibits merging the two and getting approval to break it, a federal investigation released Tuesday found.

The Office of Special Counsel, led by a Republican appointed by Trump, lays out a series of violations that the authors underscore were not innocent mistakes or slips of the tongue.

No punishment is expected to be assessed because, by most legal interpretations, the president in office at the time is the only person who can take action to fire or reprimand his political appointees when they act illegally. The office’s lengthy treatment of how the administration flouted a law intended to ensure that civil servants and political appointees operate free of political influence was meant to illustrate that the law lacks teeth and needs stronger enforcement mechanisms, the report says.

The political appointees who violated the law by blatantly promoting Trump’s reelection or disparaging rival Joe Biden in media interviews were Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette; senior counselor Kellyanne Conway; White House director of strategic communications Alyssah Farah; U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; senior adviser Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law; press secretary Kayleigh McEnany; White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; senior adviser Stephen Miller; deputy White House press secretary Brian Morgenstern; Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence; and national security adviser Robert O’Brien.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-violations-hatch-act/2021/11/09/b3d4c764-4108-11ec-a88e-2aa4632af69b_story.html

[2naSalit]

1. Can regular citzens sue them?

[mucifer]

3. nope they are pretty much above the law if you haven't noticed

To me these news articles serve no purpose other than to frustrate me.

[thesquanderer]

15. Only in Texas, where regular people with no standing can sue anybody. ;-) n/t

[abqtommy]

2. Which just goes to show that while we are a nation of laws it's obvious that

they apply to some of us much more than others!

[CrispyQ]

4. Yawn. Another story of republican malfeasance at the highest level, & what will be done about it?

I realize things take time, but that's one thing we have precious little of. Every day the dem base becomes more demoralized as folks like Bannon continue their lives as usual. Assuming the DOJ is busy in the background working these cases, if there isn't some sort of evidence of that by next spring or summer, I'm not sure you'll be able to pump up the base enough to get them to the polls in the fall. I think we're at great risk of losing at least one chamber of congress, maybe both.

[Thomas Hurt]

5. Can it really be "illegal" if these people are not charged and have their due process...

[thesquanderer]

14. It is illegal for you to steal a candy bar, even if you are never charged, tried, nor convicted. n/t

[Thomas Hurt]

16. Sure, there is a criminal statute you violated.

What criminal law is it that is violated and that the only consequences is at worst, "you're fired".

[mockmonkey]

6. Great!

It's a good thing they released that now because if they had done it when TFG was in office HEADS WOULD HAVE ROLLED!!!!

[lagomorph777]

7. Hatch Act is officially a joke.

If it can only be enforced by the person who benefits from the illegal activity, it's utterly pointless.

[Escurumbele]

8. republicans are testing the legal system on a daily basis, and so far they are proving to all of

us that "the rule of law" is bullshit, and that "no one is above the law" is also bullshit.

We are facing a tragic time in the USA...Democrats need to grow some balls and attack with fury while staying within the law, that is how the new mafia (GOP) does it.

[Justice matters.]

13. And it's not BS if Democrats do it.

New rule:
- Democrats must obey all laws.
- RepubliQons R above all laws.

The system is obviously rigged.

[onetexan]

18. Yup u've summed it up well

Its only wrong if Dems do it.

[CanonRay]

9. And the consequences are....

(crickets)

[BlueJac]

10. How many charged?

Just keeping score ...lots of law breaking 50 - 0 held accountable

[dweller]

11. Every time I read these stories

The image pops into my head of the repug with a thumb to his nose, wiggling his fingers at us …


✌🏻

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. Lock them up!!!!!

[LudwigPastorius]

17. Don't forget the fatso capo die capi.

He gave the Republican National Convention acceptance speech from the White House, for christ's sake.

[Gaugamela]

19. So a Trump appointed Special Counsel finds that members of Trump's Administration violated

laws, but those violations can’t be prosecuted by the current DOJ. So murder, bribery, extortion — they’re all immune from prosecution, if the President protects them. Got it. I guess I thought this was a different country.

[Quanto Magnus]

20. aaannnnd....

yet another example of corruption in the GOP where there are no consequences....

[Skittles]

21. yup

it just never ends - and they keep doing it BECAUSE they are never held accountable