Kellyanne Conway has violated the law at least 50 times, report finds

Kellyanne Conway has violated the Hatch Act — a federal law that prohibits government employees from campaigning in their official government capacity — at least 50 times in the past year, according to a report from the good government group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

CREW’s report only references Conway’s Hatch Act violations on Twitter — in which he uses her @KellyannePolls account for both official business and personal tweets. That means the report doesn’t account for the other times Conway has violated the Hatch Act in television appearances from the White House grounds.

“This country has been plunged into crisis because of the abuse of the official powers of the government by the president and those around him to promote his personal political interests,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a news release. “Kellyanne Conway’s repeated and flagrant use of her official position for politics is one more manifestation of this alarming and anti-democratic trend.”

CREW conducted its analysis after the Office of Special Counsel — a government office that “protects federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices” — took the unprecedented step of recommending back in June that Conway be “removed from federal service” for her many violations of the Hatch Act.

Conway was flippant about OSC’s recommendation, complaining that Democrats were trying to “silence” her for trying to get her to comply with federal laws.

Donald Trump, for his part, declined to fire Conway.

CREW says that since OSC made its recommendation, Conway has continued to violate the Hatch Act on Twitter, and has “now surpassed more than 50 violations.” She did so by attacking Democratic presidential candidates and the Democratic Party, as well as supporting Trump’s 2020 reelection bid as well as other Republicans running for office.

“Since OSC’s decision in June, it has been very obvious from Conway’s continuing violations that she considers herself to be above the law. The White House will not hold Conway accountable for her violations, and instead seems to be encouraging them,” Bookbinder said in the news release. “It is long past time for the abuses to stop.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.