The Office of Special Counsel recently ruled that Karine Jean-Pierre, Joe Biden’s spokeswoman at the White House, broke the federal Hatch Act by bashing GOP candidates as “mega MAGA Republicans.”
It was a violation because she made those comments as part of her government job. And reports since then have suggested she has no plans to change her ways.
Which, according to a report from Fox, has Richard Painter, a one-time Democratic Senate candidate and former ethics chief for President George W. Bush, calling for their ouster.
“I think that’s critically important that they stop doing it,” he told Fox. “If the Office of Special Counsel says they need to stop doing it, that means they need to stop doing it, and we can’t have them flipping the bird at this. They’ve got to comply with the Office of Special Counsel’s interpretation of the Hatch Act.”
He said there’s a reason the nation has the Hatch Act – it prohibits election officials and their staff members from using government resources to promote their own personal political favorites.
“Painter said it’s ‘a terrible, terrible idea’ for the White House to continue to use ‘MAGA’ after press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was told doing so violated the law, and added officials ‘should immediately stop doing it,’” the report said.
Even after Jean-Pierre was given a warning, “White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates sent a memo Wednesday that continued to use the term,” the report said.
Painter explained, “If someone keeps doing it when they’re told not to do it, they should get fired. Or if they engage in a serious act of the Hatch Act one time, they should be fired.”
WND reported the case involving Jean-Pierre was prompted by a complaint from a watchdog group, Protect the Public’s Trust.
The OSC said her criticisms were banned because they were intended to influence an election.
“Because Ms. Jean‐Pierre made the statements while acting in her official capacity, she violated the Hatch Act prohibition against using her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election,” reported Ana Galindo‐Marrone, who leads the agency’s Hatch Act Unit.
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