Trade adviser broke Hatch Act
WASHINGTON - White House trade adviser Peter Navarro violated a federal law that prohibits public employees from conducting political activity in their official roles, the office that enforces the law announced Monday.
The Office of Special Counsel said in a report issued to President Donald Trump that it found that Navarro “violated the Hatch Act’s prohibition against using his official authority or influence to affect an election by engaging in political activity during official media appearances and on his official Twitter account.”
From May through October, Navarro repeatedly criticized former vice president Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., “during at least six media interviews where he appeared in his official capacity as Assistant to the President and Director of the Office on Trade and Manufacturing Policy,” the OSC said.
Navarro engaged in similar political attacks via his Twitter feed, according to the OSC, which noted that Navarro’s use of the account for official purposes also meant that he was prohibited from using it to engage in political activity.
“Moreover, Dr. Navarro’s violations of the Hatch Act were knowing and willful,” the OSC said in its report. “He committed these violations after having received training on the Hatch Act and, for most of the violations, while knowing that OSC was investigating him for engaging in the same prohibited political activity.”
The office said it was submitting its report to Trump for “appropriate disciplinary action.”