Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway should have been in deep trouble. The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), not Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office, investigated her on multiple charges of violating the Hatch Act. Then, in an extremely rare move, the OSC called for Donald Trump to fire her. Now, someone else is being investigated.
Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Don Breyer (D-VA) have called on the OSC to investigate the president’s son-in-law and wide-spanning top adviser Jared Kushner. They said that Kushner had violated the Hatch Act, too.
The act forbids nearly every member of the White House administration from participating in politics. Presidents and vice presidents are exempt. The two representatives wrote in their letter to the Office of Special Counsel, according to The Talking Points Memo:
‘As you know, under the Hatch Act, federal employees are prohibited from fundraising for political candidates. Alarmingly, recent media reports indicate that Mr. Kushner is nonetheless taking a direct role in raising funds for the re-election campaign of President Donald Trump.’
They wrote further:
‘The larger context of Trump administration officials failing to comply, being previously reprimanded by OSC, and, in some cases, openly flouting Hatch Act requirements also argues against giving senior Administration officials benefit of the doubt when considering potential violations.’
The two men continued:
‘President Donald Trump and Co. not only completely disregarded the OSC’s recommendation, but also attacked the agency for infringing on her right to free speech.’
Lieu and Breyer’s letter has been shown below:
The representatives used references from both CNN and The Washington Post.
