Two House Democrats have asked the U.S. Office of Special Counsel — the government agency in charge of policing the Hatch Act — to examine whether two events filmed at the White House and broadcast at the Republican National Convention Tuesday violated the law, which prohibits most federal employees from engaging in official acts for the purpose of benefiting a political campaign.
This government still has watchdogs? Ethics Law? Who knew?
Not that the Barr DoJ will do anything, but I guess one still has to ask the question, over and over and over again. --sigh
Cue appointment of Acting Special Counselor to replace whomever does their job in 3…2…
That’s all well and good, but meaningless. The Trump administration has zero regard for the (any) law and there are no consequences to violating the Hatch Act. Most laws are based on the assumption that people of good faith will follow them. These are not people of good faith. And frankly, their supporters view this characteristic as a plus. The more Trump thumbs his nose at established norms and customs the more they like it.
It’s not meaningless…people have to be put on notice that these things are out of bounds, and the only way to do that is to call for an investigation. Government oversight may mean nothing to the Trump administration and the Republicans, but it does mean something to the civil servants and people who believe in the government working properly. These calls lay the groundwork for fixing the system when Biden takes over, because the flaws and rule breaking will have been analyzed and recommendations made.
I respectfully disagree. This way, the Dems are on the record calling out this lawbreaking. Yes, the Hatch Act is toothless, but let’s get it on the record.
The three laws of current GOPtard rule:
Tell us what we already know, then get fired.
IG’s thinkin’… thanks guys
Sorry I hate to be picky, but this is actually an important correction …
You have 1 and 2 backwards
No it’s not meaningless. We are adhering to the Rule of Law even if they aren’t. If we ignore the violations we just let them normalize them.
This is necessary.
Jesus people either scream we never do anything or bitch when we do that we shouldn’t be doing it or that it’s a waste of time.
If Dems retake the Senate under a Biden administration & do away with the filibuster (dreaming big here), maybe we can perform some tooth transplants on the hundreds of checks-and-balances watchdogs that rely on “everyone honoring norms & tradition.”
We now know what is possible when a psychopath at the head of a criminal organization heads the Executive Branch. Let’s go violation by violation & codify layers of protections that clearly were never there to begin with.
Yes the Dems must enact whatever the laws call for regardless of the seeming futility. A barrier must be maintained, even if just a symbolic one, to separate the human beings from the sewage.
It’s as if we don’t really want to be us. We’re schizoid. We’re paranoid. We’re gutless. We want to be them, or at least be like them. Luckily, only sometimes and only some of us.
What’s the effing point? Stop pissing into the wind and put energy into getting out the damn vote and doing all that you can to ensure that Americans are ABLE to vote.
Stop wasting your time on investigations into what anyone with eyes open can see.
Damn right.
eps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-D) and Don Beyer (D-VA) asked the agency to look particularly at segments the RNC aired Tuesday night that featured President Trump pardoning an ex-felon and his acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf presiding over a naturalization ceremony.
The Dems want OSC to investigate whether “Wolf and other senior members of the Trump Administration” violated the law by “using their positions, official resources, and the White House itself, to participate in the Republican National Convention.”
I want one of these “other senior members” to be that Asshole Pompeo.
This.
What horseshit. You think we can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Do you think House members should spend their time walking precincts?
