White House counselor Kellyanne Conway dismissed reporters’ claims that she violated a 1939 law preventing her from discussing elections from her government position as she addressed presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden’s track record.
Mrs. Conway criticized Mr. Biden for the 1991 Anita Hill hearing, the 1994 crime bill and immigration but added she was not commenting on the 2020 election and was not in violation of the 1939 Hatch Act.
“The fact is I haven’t been found in violation of the Hatch Act based on the 2020 election. You’ve got outside groups with political agendas trying to file actions against me. It doesn’t make it real, and it doesn’t even make it relevant,” she said.
“I’m going to talk about people’s records because I have the right to. I’m not concerned about Joe Biden. I’m concerned about the failures of the last administration to deal with the issues of the day, including North Korea,” Mrs. Conway said later.
When a reporter mentioned the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) said two 2017 interviews Mrs. Conway gave violated the Hatch Act, she quickly shrugged off the claims.
“Blah, blah, blah,” she said. “If you’re trying to silence me through the Hatch Act, it’s not going to work. Let me know when the jail sentence starts.”
Another Trump official said last week that she does not care if she was in violation of the Hatch Act, which prevents executive branch officials from using their “official authority for political purposes.”
Lynne Patton, a regional administrator for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said she shared a meme supporting HUD Secretary Ben Carson from both her personal and professional Twitter accounts.
“It may be a Hatch Act violation. It may not be. Either way, I honestly don’t care anymore,” she said.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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