Government

Kellyanne Conway Violated The Hatch Act But It's Up To Trump To Punish Her, So...

When the chief executive doesn't respect the rule of law, then 'laws' kind of lose their meaning.

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Kellyanne Conway (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty)

The Office of Special Counsel (no relation to the Robert Mueller Office of Saving the Goddamn Republic) announced its opinion that Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act. The office referred the case to President Donald Trump for “appropriate disciplinary action.”

… Which is a little bit like telling a pimp to punish his bottom for making too much money. Kellyanne Conwway is doing exactly what Trump wants her to do. That she acted illegally while doing it is of no concern to Trump. Why would anyone think that Conway’s corruption was of import to the corrupt enterprise she represents?

But, whatever, let’s pretend we live in a country of laws and play the tape out till the end. I’ve got nothing better to do.

The Hatch Act prohibits certain political activities from being done by employees of the executive branch when they’re on the people’s time. It’s our, almost quaint, attempt to separate out the functions of “government” from “campaigning.”

Personally, I always think of the Hatch Act and its antiquated importance based on a scene from the West Wing. Josh and Donna are trying to secure a vote in the Hartsfield Landing primary, and there’s a family that’s on the fence. Josh keeps sending Donna out into the cold, because she’s not allowed to make campaign calls from the White House. (There’s another episode where it comes up that President Bartlett has to dial for dollars back in the residence as opposed to the Oval Office, prompting a fight with Charlie.) It’s one of the things that made the West Wing work: as a fantasy, it’s great to think that the people working for the government care so much about how government is supposed to work.

The Hatch Act is there so that there is a clear separation between what the government does when clothed in the power of the government, and what its individuals do when begging for your vote. It’s a nice fiction, maybe only a legal fiction, that our leaders can distinguish the best interests of the country from the best interests of themselves.

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Of course, The West Wing is a Tolkien novel compared to Donald Trump’s Song of Ice and Fire presidency. The Trump administration doesn’t just violate laws and norms, it brazenly flouts them. The Trump administration does accept the CONCEPT of putting “America” first, it’s all the cult of Trump.

The Office of Special Counsel dinged Conway for two interviews she conducted on television on White House grounds. From CNN:

During the “Fox & Friends” interview November 20, Conway was introduced by the show’s hosts as a “counselor to President Trump” and spoke from White House grounds. She said about Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones: “Folks, don’t be fooled. He’ll be a vote against tax cuts. He’s weak on crime, weak on borders. He’s strong on raising your taxes. He’s terrible for property owners.”

During the “New Day” interview December 6, Conway — again speaking from White House grounds and introduced by CNN anchor Chris Cuomo as “counselor to President Trump” — said among other things that Jones will be a reliable vote “for tax hikes,” “against border security,” “against national security,” “against the Second Amendment” and “against life,” according to the OSC report.

If the Hatch Act mattered, this would be a pretty clear violation. But it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. NOTHING EVER MATTERS TO THESE PEOPLE! With Hope Hicks gone, maybe Conway will be bussed down to presidential-pants-steamer for a couple of days, and then she’ll be right back out there, doing what she does.

We are dealing with the most corrupt White House… probably literally ever. The Hatch Act is there to protect against corruption, and the appearance of corruption. It has less than no use in this administration. It had a good run, but now it’s just another casualty of the Trump years.

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Office of Special Counsel: Conway violated Hatch Act [CNN]

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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