U.S. government watchdog: Trump aide Conway should be fired for political comments

[webfact]

U.S. government watchdog: Trump aide Conway should be fired for political comments

By Steve Holland

 

FILE PHOTO: White House counselor Kellyanne Conway speaks with the news media after giving an interview to Fox News outside of the White House in Washington, U.S. May 23, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. government watchdog agency on Thursday recommended KellyanneConway, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, be fired for repeatedly violating U.S. law with political comments while serving in the White House.

 

The White House immediately rejected the special counsel office's ruling and demanded that it withdraw its report.

 

A statement from the Office of Special Counsel cited Conway's comments in television interviews and social media posts as violations of the Hatch Act, a 1939 law prohibiting executive branch employees from engaging in some political activities. The president, vice president and certain other senior officials are exempted.

 

The OSC, which can make such recommendations but does not have the authority to enforce them, referred to disparaging comments Conway made about Democratic presidential candidates.

 

"Given that Ms. Conway is a repeat offender and has shown disregard for the law, OSC recommends that she be removed from federal service," the statement said.

 

Conway, 52, served as Trump's campaign manager in 2016, becoming the first woman to head a winning presidential campaign, and is one of his most loyal aides and fiercest defenders.

 

She currently is leading White House efforts on reducing deaths by opioids and Trump likely would be loathe to have her leave the White House right when he is cranking up his re-election campaign.

 

White House deputy press secretary Steven Groves said the OSC action violated Conway's constitutional rights to free speech and due process and was pushed by media pressure and liberal organizations.

 

"Based on the numerous errors in the report and the flawed process under which it was issued, we ask that you withdraw and retract the report and continue the dialogue with this office that should have taken place and that could have avoided many of the errors in the current draft," said a letter to the OSC from White House legal counsel Pat Cipollone.

 

Democrats pounced after the report was released.

 

"Complying with the law is not optional. President Trump should terminate Ms. Conway’s employment immediately in light of these dozens of violations of federal law," said Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House of Representatives' Oversight and Reform Committee.

 

He said he would hold a hearing with the OSC on June 26 and invite Conway to "answer for her violations."

 

The Special Counsel's office is an independent agency run by lawyer Henry Kerner, who was confirmed by the Senate in October 2017 after Trump nominated him for the position.

 

In attempting to discipline officials as senior as Conway, the agency can only recommend action, not carry it out.

 

Last month Conway was critical of former Vice President Joe Biden, one of the leading Democrats seeking to unseat Trump in 2020, in conversations with reporters at the White House. In recent television appearances she attacked another challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders, and scoffed at candidate Seth Moulton, a member of the House of Representatives, as an unknown.

 

The special counsel office cited Conway last year for favouring a Republican candidate over a Democrat in an interview discussing a special Senate election in Alabama in 2017. The White House said she was only expressing Trump's preference.

 

Conway's husband, Republican lawyer George Conway, is a vociferous Trump critic who has called for impeachment and said Trump is "mentally unwell."

(Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-14

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[simple1]

38 minutes ago, webfact said:

The White House immediately rejected the special counsel office's ruling and demanded that it withdraw its report.

As usual trump refuses to comply with the Rule of Law. trump is unfit to represent the Office of the President of the USA.

[mtls2005]

Ethics schmethics.

 

Alternative Facts will be what she is remembered for, oh that and shilling for anyone.

 

Pre-trump employment:

 

 

[Tug]

Of course Donald won’t fire her he is a scofflaw and she lies for him looks like Sara huckleberry sanders finally had enough 

[jesimps]

Of course the Dems never utter political comments. Blx! Everything the Dems do is an attempt to bring down the Republicans. They're the most callous bunch of nomarks on the planet, even worse than the Brit Labour party. They have no interest whatsoever in benefitting the public, in fact I doubt most of them know, or even care about what goes on outside of party politics.

[inactiveposter]

She was in over her head, unable to think on her feet. “Alternative facts” will be her legacy. Any other person would have said, “alternative sources” - and the story would have evolved to determine the sources and they could say, we’re not sharing.

 

(Not defending or accusing.)

[lannarebirth]

I don't know what set of ethics a senior advisor is held to, but I do know that I have not seen a press secretary from either party that has not lied directly to the American public these past 30 years.

[mtls2005]

36 minutes ago, jesimps said:

Of course the Dems never utter political comments. Blx! Everything the Dems do is an attempt to bring down the Republicans.

You're clearly in over your head. Paddle back to the shallow end where you'll be safe.

 

This is about The Hatch Act (1939)  " a United States federal law whose main provision prohibits employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president, vice-president, and certain designated high-level officials,[1] from engaging in some forms of political activity. It went into law on August 2, 1939."

 

I never cease to be amazed by the lack of basic understanding of civics among my fellow countrymen and women. 

 

 

 

[Pib]

A 1939 law!!!!???...such an old law. Donald and his crew don't believe in laws passed before they came in power.

Well, let me correct that...I don't think they believe in any laws except the ones they like.

[Ozman52]

16 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

I don't know what set of ethics a senior advisor is held to, but I do know that I have not seen a press secretary from either party that has not lied directly to the American public these past 30 years.

But most manage to do it without claiming to a god-fearing bible thumping, praise-the lord, Jesus-saved-me christian. The claim that Trump is president because god wanted him to be made me want to puke.

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Conway to "answer for her violations."

she is also violating my computer screen

[lannarebirth]

23 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

But most manage to do it without claiming to a god-fearing bible thumping, praise-the lord, Jesus-saved-me christian. The claim that Trump is president because god wanted him to be made me want to puke.

You can draw your own conclusions I'm sure. Non holy roller liars vs. holy roller liars? I've some sympathy for the holy rollers as they were lied to themselves.

[bristolboy]

47 minutes ago, lannarebirth said:

I don't know what set of ethics a senior advisor is held to, but I do know that I have not seen a press secretary from either party that has not lied directly to the American public these past 30 years.

Well, while you may not know, presumably the Office of Special Counsel does.

[Bluespunk]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Based on the numerous errors in the report and the flawed process under which it was issued,

Ah, the standard trump White House response to any criticism. 

[user68677878]

[Bluespunk]

1 hour ago, jesimps said:

Of course the Dems never utter political comments. Blx! Everything the Dems do is an attempt to bring down the Republicans. They're the most callous bunch of nomarks on the planet, even worse than the Brit Labour party. They have no interest whatsoever in benefitting the public, in fact I doubt most of them know, or even care about what goes on outside of party politics.

The dems are allowed to issue political comments as that is not forbidden by any act of Congress. 

 

conway is specifically forbidden from doing so by the Hatch Act. 

[ThaiBunny]

Conway is my favourite drag queen

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, lannarebirth said:

I don't know what set of ethics a senior advisor is held to, but I do know that I have not seen a press secretary from either party that has not lied directly to the American public these past 30 years.

The issue is not that Conway lied.

 

Though of course she did.

 

The issue is infringement of the Hatch Act.

[lannarebirth]

31 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Well, while you may not know, presumably the Office of Special Counsel does.

Checks and balances, eh? It's the institutions that matter and as far as I can tell they've not been disrupted much.

[Sir Swagman]

She just spouts whatever nonsense it takes to excuse the indefensible.

As for the rest of this administration nobody knows what lies ahead, but we do know there will be lies ahead.

 

[BobBKK]

They all do it. Im totally bored with all this partisan nonsense. They spend more time hurling insults and 'investigations' at each other than running the country.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, porphyry said:

Going up or down?

[attrayant]

2 hours ago, BobBKK said:

They all do it.

 

 

No, "they" don't all violate the Hatch Act.

 

 

2 hours ago, BobBKK said:

They spend more time hurling insults and 'investigations' at each other than running the country.

 

 

"They", meaning the Office of Special Counsel, is not charged with running the country.  The OSC was doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

[jany123]

4 hours ago, jesimps said:

Of course the Dems never utter political comments. Blx! Everything the Dems do is an attempt to bring down the Republicans. They're the most callous bunch of nomarks on the planet, even worse than the Brit Labour party. They have no interest whatsoever in benefitting the public, in fact I doubt most of them know, or even care about what goes on outside of party politics.

And yet this article is about republican abuse of ethics. The article about democratic abuses will be coming along when the dems abuse accepted standards.

 

or are you saying that the US government ethics committees (or whatever they are called) are not themselves adhering to proscribed ethical standards?

 

anyway... just more despicable actions or inactions from the president of those divided states of America. I’m sure there will be more despicable acts to read about tomorrow, which will set abhorrent examples for the leaders of the future to follow.

 

Nero fiddled while Rome burned, but Rome survived. Will America?

[Rimmer]

A couple of off topic posts removed

[ResandePohm]

7 hours ago, simple1 said:

As usual trump refuses to comply with the Rule of Law. trump is unfit to represent the Office of the President of the USA.

The USA is getting more like Thailand every day. Make Laws then ignore them. Won't be long before the USA is also a third world country

[ResandePohm]

3 hours ago, BobBKK said:

They all do it. Im totally bored with all this partisan nonsense. They spend more time hurling insults and 'investigations' at each other than running the country.

Lucky they don't have Thailands Defamation Laws

[BobBKK]

1 hour ago, attrayant said:

 

No, "they" don't all violate the Hatch Act.

 

 

 

"They", meaning the Office of Special Counsel, is not charged with running the country.  The OSC was doing exactly what it's supposed to do.

Yes justifying why it's there @ 20m a year. Who cares? nothing will happen and America will continue to sink.

[bristolboy]

5 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

Checks and balances, eh? It's the institutions that matter and as far as I can tell they've not been disrupted much.

Checks and balances is about the relation between different branches of government, It has nothing to do with this. Until such a time as that office is abolished, how would you know it makes no difference?