At least 13 Trump officials illegally campaigned while in office, federal investigation finds
Source: Washington Post
At least 13 senior Trump administration officials illegally mixed governing with campaigning before the 2020 election, intentionally ignoring a law that prohibits merging the two and getting approval to break it, a federal investigation released Tuesday found.
The Office of Special Counsel, led by a Republican appointed by Trump, lays out a series of violations that the authors underscore were not innocent mistakes or slips of the tongue.
No punishment is expected to be assessed because, by most legal interpretations, the president in office at the time is the only person who can take action to fire or reprimand his political appointees when they act illegally. The offices lengthy treatment of how the administration flouted a law intended to ensure that civil servants and political appointees operate free of political influence was meant to illustrate that the law lacks teeth and needs stronger enforcement mechanisms, the report says.
The political appointees who violated the law by blatantly promoting Trumps reelection or disparaging rival Joe Biden in media interviews were Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette; senior counselor Kellyanne Conway; White House director of strategic communications Alyssah Farah; U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman; senior adviser Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law; press secretary Kayleigh McEnany; White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; senior adviser Stephen Miller; deputy White House press secretary Brian Morgenstern; Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence; and national security adviser Robert OBrien.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-violations-hatch-act/2021/11/09/b3d4c764-4108-11ec-a88e-2aa4632af69b_story.html
2naSalit
(86,650 posts)mucifer
(23,554 posts)To me these news articles serve no purpose other than to frustrate me.
thesquanderer
(11,990 posts)abqtommy
(14,118 posts)they apply to some of us much more than others!
CrispyQ
(36,478 posts)I realize things take time, but that's one thing we have precious little of. Every day the dem base becomes more demoralized as folks like Bannon continue their lives as usual. Assuming the DOJ is busy in the background working these cases, if there isn't some sort of evidence of that by next spring or summer, I'm not sure you'll be able to pump up the base enough to get them to the polls in the fall. I think we're at great risk of losing at least one chamber of congress, maybe both.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)thesquanderer
(11,990 posts)Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)What criminal law is it that is violated and that the only consequences is at worst, "you're fired".
mockmonkey
(2,821 posts)It's a good thing they released that now because if they had done it when TFG was in office HEADS WOULD HAVE ROLLED!!!!
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)If it can only be enforced by the person who benefits from the illegal activity, it's utterly pointless.
Escurumbele
(3,396 posts)us that "the rule of law" is bullshit, and that "no one is above the law" is also bullshit.
We are facing a tragic time in the USA...Democrats need to grow some balls and attack with fury while staying within the law, that is how the new mafia (GOP) does it.
Justice matters.
(6,933 posts)New rule:
- Democrats must obey all laws.
- RepubliQons R above all laws.
The system is obviously rigged.
onetexan
(13,043 posts)Its only wrong if Dems do it.
CanonRay
(14,105 posts)(crickets)
BlueJac
(7,838 posts)Just keeping score ...lots of law breaking 50 - 0 held accountable
dweller
(23,642 posts)The image pops into my head of the repug with a thumb to his nose, wiggling his fingers at us
✌🏻
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,036 posts)LudwigPastorius
(9,155 posts)He gave the Republican National Convention acceptance speech from the White House, for christ's sake.
Gaugamela
(2,496 posts)laws, but those violations cant be prosecuted by the current DOJ. So murder, bribery, extortion theyre all immune from prosecution, if the President protects them. Got it. I guess I thought this was a different country.
Quanto Magnus
(895 posts)yet another example of corruption in the GOP where there are no consequences....
Skittles
(153,169 posts)it just never ends - and they keep doing it BECAUSE they are never held accountable