CREW files Hatch Act complaint against Kellyanne Conway 

Watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) alleged in a complaint filed on Tuesday that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has violated the federal Hatch Act on several occasions.

CREW’s complaint to the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) details how Conway posted tweets promoting the Republican Party or Trump’s campaign slogan on the social media account linked to her job in the administration. 

{mosads}The Hatch Act bars federal employees from using their offices, work resources and social media accounts for political purposes.

Those found to have violated it can be fined as much as $1,000 and face disciplinary actions like suspension or termination.

CREW’s complaint gave examples of several tweets from Conway in recent months that could be found to have violated the Hatch Act.

One example included Conway retweeting Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), in August.

McDaniel was responding to a tweet from Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez stating: “let’s be clear: Women are leading the Democratic Party” with a list of 2018 female candidates.

“A woman is actually leading the Republican Party,” McDaniel wrote, and Conway retweeted it.

The RNC is registered with the Federal Election Commission as a national party committee of the Republican Party and is the management arm of the GOP.

A woman is actually leading the Republican Party. https://t.co/5zE39OPZ1P

— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) August 17, 2018

Conway also retweeted an article from The Washington Examiner in September that depicts Trump in one of his signature “Make America Great Again” campaign hats.

Happy Days: Record low 12% worried about economy, great time to get a job https://t.co/YW9K5DVbES

— Paul Bedard (@SecretsBedard) September 17, 2018

The OSC clarified this March that any reference to Trump’s “MAGA” campaign slogan was a clear violation, the watchdog noted. 

The group is calling on the OSC to investigate whether Conway violated the law by participating in an official media interview while discussing her views on political candidates in partisan races.

CREW pointed to an Oct. 3 interview Conway gave Fox News from the grounds of the White House.

Conway was brought on to focus on the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court but she diverged into discussing how voters might respond to Democratic senators over the issue. 

“I think if you are a red-state Democrat right now, you are stuck choosing between this — being complicit in a process that has been about delay and destruction and the will of your people in your states,” Conway said during the interview.

“If you are one of those three Democratic senators who voted for Neil Gorsuch just over a short year ago — Senators [Joe] Manchin [(W.Va.)] [Heidi] Heitkamp [(N.D.)] and [Joe] Donnelly in Indiana — you’ve got to think about this,” Conway said. “What has changed, because your voters want a Supreme Court nominee to be confirmed. They don’t want this obstruction. They don’t like the socialist way the Democratic Party is going.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.

This is not the first time that Conway has been accused of violating the Hatch Act.

 An investigation from the special counsel in March found that she did so on two separate occasions, once after using her official position to promote products from the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Conway did not say whether she faced a punishment for the violations.

Several other members of the Trump administration have been either accused or found to have violated the act.

Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was found to have violated the act by retweeting an endorsement from Trump last October.  

Dan Scavino, the White House social media director, was also found to have violated the act last year after CREW filed a complaint accusing him of encouraging potential GOP challengers to oust Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) in an upcoming primary.

Haley and Scavino were reportedly given warnings from the OSC.