The White House swiftly rejected an oversight office’s call for Kellyanne Conway to be fired for violating the Hatch Act, saying the U.S. Office of Special Counsel violated her right to free speech.
The independent oversight office, which is led by Trump-nominated Henry Kerner, blasted Conway’s “persistent, notorious, and deliberate Hatch Act violations” in a report Thursday, citing instances where Conway commented on political campaigns, which the law prohibits certain officials from doing.
White House spokesman Steven Groves said in a statement that the office’s “unprecedented actions against Kellyanne Conway are deeply flawed and violate her constitutional rights to free speech and due process.”
“Others, of all political views, have objected to the OSC’s unclear and unevenly applied rules which have a chilling effect on free speech for all federal employees,” Groves said. “Its decisions seem to be influenced by media pressure and liberal organizations — and perhaps OSC should be mindful of its own mandate to act in a fair, impartial, non-political manner, and not misinterpret or weaponize the Hatch Act.”
Conway, who often helps shape White House messaging, brusquely refused to comment when a reporter approached her moments after the report was made public.
“Can you leave, please?” Conway said to Eamon Javers of CNBC, pointing to a door.
She added: “I have no reaction. Why would I give you a reaction?“
In a press release and letter to Trump, the independent Office of Special Counsel called on Trump to fire Conway, who served as Trump’s final campaign manager in 2016. Unlike most other campaign-era advisers, Conway has retained a close relationship with Trump, who routinely fires aides.
Conway’s alleged violations of the law include tweets and interview statements in support of Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections and comments on the 2020 election, including referring to Democratic front-runner Joe Biden on Twitter as “Creepy Uncle Joe.”
“Like with other presidential appointees, the President has the authority to discipline Ms. Conway for violating the Hatch Act. Given that Ms. Conway is a repeat offender and has shown disregard for the law, OSC recommends that she be removed from federal service,” the office said in a press release.
In an 11-page open letter, White House counsel Pat Cipollone rebutted the OSC’s 17-page report, saying that office did not give Conway a required opportunity to respond and made flimsy assumptions — including that the law even applies to a presidential surrogate as senior as Conway.
Cipollone defended Conway’s media interviews as “simply commenting on an individual who is running for office” and defended Conway’s tweets, writing, “Ms. Conways does not, in fact, use her Twitter account for any ‘official purpose’.”
“OSC’s ‘call’ upon the President ‘to remove Ms. Conway from her federal position immediately’ is as outrageous as it is unprecedented,” the White House counsel wrote.
