The above video is designed for students and is a little sloppy, but provides a not-too-boring overview of the Hatch Act, which several Trump Administration officials have now been charged with violating. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed complaints against ten Trump administration officials for violating the Hatch Act.
This goes far beyond just tweeting the campaign slogan "Make America Great Again #MAGA," though yes, that is a violation of the Hatch Act. The Trump Administration is engaged in widespread political propaganda on behalf of Trump, period. CREW's press release on the charges says:
The ten Trump Administration officials named in the complaints are: Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Deputy Director of Communications Jessica Ditto, Executive Assistant to the President Madeleine Westerhout, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah, Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters, Director of Media Affairs Helen Aguirre Ferré, Press Secretary for Vice President Mike Pence Alyssa Farah, and OMB Deputy Communications Director Jacob Wood.
“We continue to see Trump Administration officials at all levels engaged in unprecedented partisan political activity using their official Twitter accounts in direct violation of the Hatch Act,” said CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder. “Despite multiple investigations and violations found, the Trump Administration clearly has no intention to stop the misuse of government offices and resources for political purposes. We are now calling on the OSC to consider additional measures to prevent the rampant abuses coming from this administration.”
Of course, a huge part of the problem here is that the Trump Administration is also in charge of disciplining their own staff, and that's not gonna happen when Cheeto Mussolini sees political activity as "loyalty."
Following previous CREW complaints, both Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and White House Director of Social Media Dan Scavino Jr. were cited for Hatch Act violations. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway also received ethics counseling following a CREW complaint over her violation of federal ethics regulations by using her official position to promote Ivanka Trump products. The White House affirmatively rejected OSC’s findings related to Ms. Conway, and none of the three appear to have been disciplined following their misconduct.
CREW has PDF's of the individual complaints filed, linked at their website.
