WASHINGTON – White House trade adviser Peter Navarro violated a federal law that prohibits public employees from conducting political activity in their official roles, the office that enforces the law announced Monday.

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) said in a report issued to President Donald Trump that it found that Navarro “violated the Hatch Act’s prohibition against using his official authority or influence to affect an election by engaging in political activity during official media appearances and on his official Twitter account.”

Navarro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

From May through October, Navarro repeatedly criticized former vice president Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., “during at least six media interviews where he appeared in his official capacity as Assistant to the President and Director of the Office on Trade and Manufacturing Policy,” the OSC said.

Navarro engaged in similar political attacks via his Twitter feed, according to the OSC, which noted that Navarro’s use of the account for official purposes also meant that he was prohibited from using it to engage in political activity.

“Moreover, Dr. Navarro’s violations of the Hatch Act were knowing and willful,” the OSC said in its report. “He committed these violations after having received training on the Hatch Act and, for most of the violations, while knowing that OSC was investigating him for engaging in the same prohibited political activity.”

The office said it was submitting its report to Trump for “appropriate disciplinary action.” But it remains uncertain whether such action will come.

In recent years, several high-profile members of the Trump administration – including White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former White House social media director Dan Scavino – have been reprimanded by the OSC for violating the Hatch Act.

In Conway’s case, Trump said last year that he would not take disciplinary action over the repeated violations, defending Conway as “loyal” and “a tremendous spokeswoman.”

“Well, I got briefed on it yesterday, and it looks to me like they’re trying to take away her right of free speech, and that’s just not fair,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News at the time.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

‘The people have spoken’: Michigan judge rejects lawsuit from disavowed Trump attorney

Next »

Biden picks retired general Lloyd Austin as secretary of defense