The U.S. Office of Special Counsel found Peter Navarro, a senior adviser to the president, violated the Hatch Act.
Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner reported Navarro used his official authority in televised appearances and on social media to influence the 2020 presidential election in defiance of the Act, which prohibits civil service employees in the executive branch from participating in certain political activities.
Kerner is recommending disciplinary action for Navarro. It’s unlikely the administration will punish him. However, a growing number of Democrats are calling for further investigations into senior Trump aides.
Forbes’ Andrew Solender reports:
Navarro, an assistant to the president and the director of the Office for Trade and Manufacturing Policy, repeatedly attacked President-elect Joe Biden in media interviews and on social media in the months before the election, the office said. In one instance cited by the office, Navarro used his Twitter account to argue that “nice guys don’t vote for NAFTA and China’s entry into the WTO and destroy American factories and jobs like Joe did.”
The Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that investigates Hatch Act violations and other matters, referred the report to the president for “appropriate disciplinary action.” The White House has declined to act on the reports in the past and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Politico over the summer that “nobody outside of the Beltway really cares” about the violations.
…
The 1939 Hatch Act is restricts federal workers from engaging in specific political activity in an effort to prevent members of the executive branch from interfering in elections. Prohibited activities include running for office, hosting fundraisers, making campaign speeches or distributing campaign materials.
The post Office of Special Counsel Concludes Top Trump Adviser Violated Hatch Act appeared first on American Action News.
from American Action News https://ift.tt/3mVJIaD
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J