Senior HUD official reprimanded for making political statements on the job

A senior official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received a warning letter from the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) over violating the Hatch Act by making political statements at her government job, Politico reported.

However, the special counsel’s office decided not to pursue disciplinary action on the violations relating to Lynne Patton, according to the letter provided by HUD. 

The special counsel’s office said Patton violated the Hatch Act twice when she used her official government Twitter to promote political tweets and displayed a red “USA” hat sold by the Trump campaign in her office.{mosads}

But the office also cleared her of two other alleged violations involving a tweet defending HUD Secretary Ben Carson and her appearance at an oversight hearing featuring Michael Cohen. 

“Although OSC concluded that you violated the Hatch Act by unwittingly displaying a campaign hat in your office and ‘liking’ partisan political tweets on your official Twitter account, we have decided not to pursue disciplinary action and are closing our files without further action,” Erica Hamrick, deputy chief of the special counsel office’s Hatch Act Unit, wrote in the letter to Patton Wednesday, according to Politico. 

Patton is the department’s regional administrator for New York and New Jersey. 

She has ties to the Trump family dating back to before her appointment, having served as the vice president of the Eric Trump Foundation. 

Patton thanked the Office of Special Counsel in an emailed statement, claiming the office “determined that I did not violate the Hatch Act” based on the two alleged incidents she was cleared of.

She called the incidents she was found to be in violation for “minor infractions.” 

“I look forward to continuing to focus on the residents of New York and New Jersey, whose well-being I care about the most,” she added. 

—Updated at 4:04 p.m.