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The six leaders are the White House press secretary, Raj Shah, the White House's deputy director of communications, Jessica Ditto, executive assistant to President Madeleine Westerhout, former special assistant to the president and director of relations with the White House media reports Helen Aguirre Ferré, Press Secretary for Vice President Alyssa Farah and Assistant Director of Communications, Office of Management and Budget, Jacob Wood.
The Hatchet Act limits certain political activities of federal employees in order to prevent the federal government from affecting elections or operating in a partisan manner. This includes sending partisan messages from social media accounts used for official government purposes.
The six men violated the Hatch Act by using their Twitter account, which they use for official purposes, to tweet messages considered supporters by the OSC. Four of the six messages tweeted including "#MAGA" or the slogan "Make America Great Again!" Shah tweeted a message from his account citing research from the Republican National Committee. Ditto retweeted Shah's message with RNC's search.
The OSC found that these messages violated the Hatch Act because they used the political slogan of the current candidate, President Donald Trump, who had announced that he would stand for re-election in 2020. Tweet these slogans to from an account used for official purposes as a federal employee is considered a political activity. In the cases of Shah and Ditto, they highlighted the research conducted by a political party, which the OSC intended to engage in a prohibited political activity.
The OSC sent warning letters to the six officials and warned that subsequent behavior was considered a "prohibited political activity while employed in a position regulated by the Hatch Act" will be considered "a voluntary and conscious violation of the law, which could lead to additional measures, "says the letter.
The OSC does not comment on investigations initiated or closed under the Act. confirmed to CNN that the letter to Bookbinder was genuine. CREW, the Bookbinder organization, directs, has submitted to the OSC complaints relating to the Hatch Act concerning approximately 10 White House representatives who were addressed in the letter. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN
The Office of the Special Council enforces the Hatch Law. The law, however, is a guideline, so violations are not considered crimes. Sanctions can range from a simple reprimand to the loss of a job
but the OSC does not have the power to discipline appointees to the White House. If a senior White House official appointed by the President is found in violation of the Hatch Act, and the OSC deems it necessary to take disciplinary action, "the OSC may only send a report to the President. 39, informing about the violation, "said Zachary Kurz, director of communications for the Office of the Special Council. "It's up to him to impose any discipline."
Nine Trump administration officials were cited for violating the Hatch Act as a result of citizen complaints for accountability and ethics in Washington, including the Ambassador to the United States. United Nations, Nikki Haley, Assistant to the President and Director of Communications of the First Lady's Office, Stephanie Grisham, and Social Media Director at the White House, Dan Scavino, according to a press release issued by the 39; organization.
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