White House counselor Kellyanne Conway defied a congressional subpoena, resisting a Democrat-led effort to have her testify before the House Oversight Committee about alleged violations of the Hatch Act.
Chairman Elijah Cummings announced at the beginning of a hearing Monday, during which Conway was slated to testify, that he received a letter from the White House 15 minutes prior. The letter, written by White House counsel Pat Cipollone, said Conway “is absolutely immune from compelled congressional testimony with respect to matters related to her service as a senior advisor to the President.”
Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, called this a “completely baseless claim” and said if Conway does not reconsider, the committee will hold a business meeting on July 25 to vote on holding her in contempt of Congress.
The Oversight panel summoned Conway to testify voluntarily after an Office of Special Counsel report in June found she had committed “multiple Hatch Act violations” and recommended President Trump fire her. Conway refused the offer, after which the committee voted to subpoena her.
The Hatch Act forbids federal employees from engaging in political activities.
Republicans on the panel voted against the subpoena resolution and made the case Democrats are targeting Conway, who was Trump’s final 2016 campaign manager, because she is an effective surrogate for Trump.
In a statement Monday, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Democrats “continue to overreach and politicize the Office of Special Counsel – this time, by trying to silence Kellyanne Conway with ill-founded, phony allegations about the Hatch Act.”
During an appearance Monday evening on Fox News, Conway echoed this sentiment, saying, “I’m concerned that there’s such a weaponization and politicization of this thing called the Hatch Act.”
“They’re not going to silence me,” Conway told host Sean Hannity. “They’re not going to take away my First Amendment rights.”
