Kellyanne Conway Violated Federal Ethics Rules Twice Last Year: Report

A federal ethics agency has determined that Kellyanne Conway broke the law twice last year while advocating for the election of Republican Roy Moore in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama. Suggested Reading Three Friends Were Headed To A Beyoncรฉ Concert, But One Dies On the Way. Guess What The Other Two Did Next? Our…

A federal ethics agency has determined that Kellyanne Conway broke the law twice last year while advocating for the election of Republican Roy Moore in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama.

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The Office of Special Counsel found that Conway violated the Hatch Act while giving live television interviews from the White House lawn, NPR reports.

The OSCโ€”not to be confused with the team of Justice Department special counsel Robert Muellerโ€”is an independent federal ethics investigative and prosecutorial agency.

The Hatch Act is a federal law passed in 1939 that essentially prohibits federal employees from practicing partisan politics while on the job.

The OSC says that during two separate television interviews last yearโ€”one with Fox News and one with CNNโ€”Conway discussed the Alabama Senate race while standing in front of the White House and using her official title of โ€œcounselor to the presidentโ€ while repeatedly attacking Mooreโ€™s opponent, Democrat Doug Jones.

Then, in a Nov. 20 appearance on Fox & Friends, Conway said, โ€œDoug Jones in Alabama, folks, donโ€™t be fooled. He will be a vote against tax cuts. He is weak on crime. Weak on borders. Heโ€™s strong on raising your taxes. He is terrible for property owners.โ€

OSCโ€™s report (pdf) reads in part:

While the Hatch Act allows federal employees to express their views about candidates and political issues as private citizens, it restricts employees from using their official government positions for partisan political purposes, including by trying to influence partisan elections.

Ms. Conwayโ€™s statements during the Fox & Friends and [CNNโ€™s] New Day interviews impermissibly mixed official government business with political views about candidates in the Alabama special election for U.S. Senate.

According to the OSC, Conway never responded to its inquiries. Because Conway is a high-ranking presidential appointee, the report has been submitted to the president for โ€œappropriate disciplinary actionโ€ because only Donald Trump can decide what actionโ€”if anyโ€”is appropriate.

Of course, the White House has already pushed back on the report, according to NPR. Its argument is that Conway argued neither for nor against any candidate in the Alabama Senate race.

Deputy press secretary Hogan Gridley said in a statement: โ€œShe simply expressed the presidentโ€™s obvious position that he have people in the House and Senate who support his agenda. In fact, Kellyanneโ€™s statements actually show her intention and desire to comply with the Hatch Actโ€”as she twice declined to respond to the hostโ€™s specific invitation to encourage Alabamans to vote for the Republican.โ€

This is not the first time Conway has been called out for an ethics violation. During a February 2017 interview, she endorsed the fashion line of the presidentโ€™s daughter Ivanka Trump. The president did not discipline Conway in that instance, drawing the ire of then-OSC head Walter Shaub.

Weโ€™ll have to wait and see if Donald Trump takes any action this time.

Straight From The Root

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