A prominent liberal watchdog group filed a Hatch Act complaint against White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday, saying her apparent endorsement of Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McCauliffe during a White House press briefing may have violated federal law.
“By mixing official government business with support of a candidate for partisan political office in the weeks before the election and engaging in political activity while on duty, Ms. Psaki appears to have used her official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election, political activity that is prohibited by law,” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said in its complaint filed with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).
Psaki said during her daily press briefing Thursday that “we’re going to do everything we can to help former governor McAuliffe, and we believe in the agenda he’s representing.”
Another day, another possible Hatch Act violation from @presssec @jrpsaki
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) October 14, 2021
PSAKI: “Again, we’re going to do everything we can to help former governor McAuliffe, and we believe in the agenda he’s representing.” https://t.co/7jGMPEha3j pic.twitter.com/196GDDLvae
The upcoming Virginia gubernatorial election on Nov. 2 is being described as a national bellwether by forecasters. McAuliffe, a Democrat and former governor of the state, is neck and neck with his Republican opponent, Glenn Youngkin, according to recent polls.
The Hatch Act prohibits any executive branch employees from engaging in political activity in their official capacity, CREW said in a statement Friday.
“By using … (Read more)
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