Hatch Act Twitter is having a conniption right now over last night’s RNC events:
The Hatch Act is a law designed to separate politics from public service. Those lines are being erased tonight.
— Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett) August 26, 2020
And they’re really, really mad at the naturalization ceremony:
This is so obviously, blatantly, insultingly a Hatch Act violation that it's starting to seem like the Trump administration is going out of its way to find new ways to violate the law. https://t.co/wOQnWl1wO4
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) August 26, 2020
But the White House is saying that because the event was publicized earlier in the day that it was legal to use the footage during the RNC:
WH official says the naturalization ceremony in the convention program tonight didn’t violate the Hatch Act b/c the WH "publicized the content of the event on a public website this afternoon and the campaign decided to use the publically available content for campaign purposes.”
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) August 26, 2020
And, anyway, it doesn’t even apply to the president:
The White House legal counsel has underscored that the Hatch Act doesn’t apply to the president and vice president.
But up until now, members of both parties have taken pains to avoid conducting overtly political actions on federal property. https://t.co/rMV4gMO9NL
— NPR (@NPR) August 26, 2020
They’re grasping at this point:
It's true that the Hatch Act doesn't apply to the President, but it does apply aides, ushers, security etc. And I doubt that President Trump personally set out the chairs for his political event. https://t.co/nakTnF7OXC
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) August 26, 2020
But what’s an even bigger buzzkill right now is that this same sort of stuff happened during the Obama administration:
Office of Special Counsel concluded Sebelius violated Hatch Act & referred matter to Obama. He did nothing http://t.co/DCfglseaqb
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) February 21, 2014
So spare us the outrage directed at Mike Pompeo and his taped speech from Israel:
Kathleen Sebelius violated the Hatch Act to campaign for Obama. She was found to have broken the law by the Office of Special Counsel, which referred the manner to WH for discipline and Obama did nothing and nobody gave a toss. The outrage over Pompeo is a joke.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) August 26, 2020
Julián Castro, too, was found in violation and President Obama did nothing:
NEWS: Office of Special Counsel has found Julián Castro violated Hatch Act in April interview https://t.co/iRuFU1hkMp
— Katherine Miller (@katherinemiller) July 18, 2016
And don’t even get us started on Bill Clinton’s shenanigans:
remember the magisterial trappings of the Lincoln Bedroom being used as a cash machine during Clinton years. https://t.co/o9BC54NQg1
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) August 26, 2020
They’re such hypocrites and everyone sees it:
Hypocrisy: Valerie Jarrett says President Obama "Would Have Zero Tolerance" For Violating The Hatch Act – yet he kept Kathleen Sebelius and Julian Castro in Cabinet after violations of the Hatch Act https://t.co/uzkJ6uxyGK #maga pic.twitter.com/hvOfIsOS3R
— Matt Batzel (@MattBatzel) June 14, 2019
You see, it’s only an issue when there’s an “R” after the name:
Bret Baier: “A federal watchdog agency recommended that Kellyanne Conway be fired for violating the Hatch Act. When you were HUD Secretary, the same agency accused you of the same thing. Obama gave you a pass. Should Trump give Conway a pass?”
Castro: No, situation is different pic.twitter.com/hPmPrdLT9b
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) June 13, 2019
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