Kellyanne Conway should be fired for her repeated violations of federal law. That’s the recommendation of a new report to President Trump from the federal Office of Special Counsel that cites Conway’s disregard for the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive branch office holders from using their post to actively engage actively in politics.
Excerpts from the Office of Special Counsel letter recommending @KellyannePolls be fired: pic.twitter.com/GqepginbLj
— Rolling Stone Politics (@RSPolitics) June 13, 2019
Conway serves as the counselor to the president. The report cites numerous occasions of Conway appearing in an official capacity on news shows and on social media and then proceeding to disparage prominent Democrats. The White House has responded calling the recommendation to dismiss Conway “as outrageous as it is unprecedented.” In a letter, the White House calls on the office to “withdraw and retract” the report, claiming OSC’s “overbroad and unsupported” interpretation of the Hatch Act “chills the free speech of all federal employees.”
The OSC is an independent agency charged with aiding whistle-blowers and enforcing federal ethics laws. It is run by a Trump appointee. (The office is unrelated to Robert Mueller’s special counsel office.) The report calls Conway a “repeat offender,” and warns that her “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.”
In 2018, a report by the same office found that Conway had violated the Hatch Act twice. Recently, Conway appeared to mock her responsibilities under the law. When a reporter asked her about the acts’ requirements, she responded: “Blah, blah, blah. If you’re trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, it’s not going to work,” adding: “Let me know when the jail sentence starts.”
Questioned about the current report, Conway continued to treat the topic with contempt:
I was just standing in an office in the WH press office when Kellyanne Conway came in. I asked for her reaction to this. She pointed to the door and said “can you leave, please?” Later, I asked her again, and she said: “I have no reaction. Why would I give you a reaction?“ https://t.co/DZWKJsQLQb
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) June 13, 2019
This is a developing story and will be updated.
