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Following several @CREWcrew complaints, the Office of Special Counsel recommended that Counsel to the President Kellyanne Conway be removed from federal service for repeated violations of the Hatch Act. 1/7 citizensforethics.org/press-release/…
The Hatch Act prohibits government employees, with a few exceptions like the President, from using their official positions for partisan politics. Separating government employees from politics is important to a fair and functioning democracy. 2/7
This administration has been terrible with the Hatch Act. Ten officials have been found to have violated it based on @CREWcrew complaints alone (the overall total is higher). 3/7
But no one has been worse than Conway, whose violations have been flagrant and repeated even after she has been called out, counseled, and urged to stop. She has publicly mocked the law and made clear that she won't follow it - a threat to the rule of law itself. 4/7
The White House argues the Special Counsel's recommendation violates Conway's rights to due process and free speech. This is legal gobbledygook. The office has engaged in comprehensive process including giving her many chances to respond. 5/7
And while the constitution gives all Americans the right to political speech, it does not give anyone the right to be a federal employee and certainly doesn't give the right to use an official government position as a platform for political speech. 6/7
The Hatch Act has been the law of the land for many decades. This administration has chosen to ignore it. This is one more instance where it will be important to show that they are not free to disregard the law whenever it suits them. 7/7
