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White House advisor Kellyanne Conway has violated the Hatch Act on "many occasions," the Special Council Office said Thursday.
A letter was sent to President Trump recommending that he be removed from office.
The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their office to campaign for or against political candidates. The president and vice-president are exempted from the hatchery law, unlike the White House employees.
In its letter, the Special Council Office mentions Conway as a "recidivism" for denigrating Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in an official capacity during televised interviews and on social media.
"Ms. Conway's violations, if left unpunished, would send a message to all federal employees stating that they are not required to abide by the restrictions set out in the Hatch Act, and its actions undermine the primary foundation of our democratic system. – the rule of law, "said the letter.
The letter follows a March 2018 report in which the Office of the Special Counsel found violations in two television interviews in which Conway pleaded for and against the 2017 election candidates in Alabama for the US Senate.
The Special Council office also noted that Conway had "downplayed the importance of the law as it had been applied to him" during an interview on May 29.
When asked about the Hatch Act, she said, "If you try to silence me through the Hatch Act, it will not work," and "Let me know when the trouble of prison begins ".
The White House did not immediately issue a statement in response to the OSC's letter. The OSC is an independent agency that "protects employees and federal candidates against prohibited personnel practices," according to its website.
Conway has been Trump's advisor since the inauguration, often appearing for talks on behalf of the president. Previously, the long-time pollster worked as Trump's campaign manager in the final months of the 2016 campaign.
The specific violations listed in the OSC letter related to Conway's comments during interviews with several Democratic candidates from 2020. For example, she insinuated that Senator Cory Booker was "sexist" and "a tenuous" " motivational speaker ". She blasted the former representative, Beto O 'Rourke, "think that[ing] women who run are good enough to be presidents "and said Senator Elizabeth Warren" lied "about her ethnicity and" appropriated the legacy of someone else ".
The letter also details her comments on "leaders", Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders, whom she described as "two career politicians, white and heterosexual men." She claimed that Biden lacked "vision," said her ad video was "very dark and scary," and criticized her refusal to "have to report back". Conway said that Sanders' ideas were "terrible for America".
The OSC also determined that Conway was using her "@KellyannePolls" account on Twitter to perform her official duties, but that she also had "significant political activity". In particular, she retweeted a March 31 message referring to Biden as "Creepy Oncle Joe".
Conway removed his White House title from his Twitter biography, leaving his profile blank, in October 2018, after Washington's Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics filed a complaint with the Special Council Office for potential violations of the Hatch law.
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