{"id":2231157,"date":"2024-04-26T17:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T21:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-biden-officials-likely-violated-key-federal-law-watchdog-says\/"},"modified":"2024-04-26T17:03:13","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T21:03:13","slug":"top-biden-officials-likely-violated-key-federal-law-watchdog-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-biden-officials-likely-violated-key-federal-law-watchdog-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Federal Law Possibly Violated by Top Biden Officials, Watchdog Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftop-biden-officials-likely-violated-key-federal-law-watchdog-says%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2231157&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Top officials at the White House and Small Business Administration \u200bare \u2062suspected of violating\u2063 a federal law\u2062 that limits government employees&#8217; involvement in political activities. The watchdog group, Protect the Public\u2019s\u200d Trust, obtained internal emails revealing the\u200b use\u2062 of official resources to discuss former President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign slogan, \u201cMAGA.\u201d This potential \u2062violation of the Hatch Act prohibits \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">federal employees<\/a> from influencing elections.\u2063 Michael Chamberlain, the\u200d director of Protect the Public\u2019s\u200b Trust, emphasized the importance of upholding \u2064the Hatch Act to prevent such\u2063 misconduct.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Top officials at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/section\/news\/white-house\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>White House<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/small-business-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Small Business Administration<\/a> appear to have violated a federal law restricting government staffers from engaging in certain political activities, according to a watchdog group. <\/p>\n<p>Internal emails obtained by Protect the Public\u2019s Trust, a group investigating apparent conflicts of interest, show that both White House and SBA officials have frequently used official resources to communicate about former President Donald Trump\u2019s campaign phrase \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/maga\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>MAGA<\/a>,\u201d or Make America Great Again. But under the Hatch Act, federal executive branch employees are barred from \u201cusing their official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of an election,\u201d the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/watchdog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>watchdog<\/a> wrote in a Thursday complaint sent to the White House, the SBA\u2019s inspector general, and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a federal investigative and prosecutorial agency. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis continual apparent disregard of the Hatch Act shows why it\u2019s needed in the first place,\u201d said director Michael Chamberlain of Protect the Public\u2019s Trust, a group that previously argued White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre skirted the Hatch Act, leading to the Office of Special Counsel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/documents\/139f8223-99e4-4ac1-84f3-a9bddd1ad9f8.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>concluding<\/a> in June 2023 that she did violate it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerican citizens don\u2019t pay their public servants to wage a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tim-graham-the-polarizing-media-decries-polarization\/\" title=\"Tim Graham: The Polarizing Media Decries Polarization\">permanent political campaign<\/a> while disparaging their opponents,\u201d said Chamberlain, who worked in the Department of Education under Trump. <\/p>\n<p>The Hatch Act, which went into effect in 1939, aims to ensure taxpayer-backed programs are nonpartisan and not tools for the government to engage in political coercion. It has been routinely violated in prior administrations, including under Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/probe-finds-trump-officials-repeatedly-violated-hatch-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>by at least<\/a> 13 officials. <\/p>\n<p>In the complaint, Chamberlain\u2019s group cited how federal employees may not use their \u201cemail account or social media to distribute, send, or forward content that advocates for or against a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/marine-who-fought-during-afghan-collapse-under-investigation-for-appearing-at-trump-rally-report-says\/\" title=\"Marine Who Fought During Afghan Collapse Under Investigation For Appearing At Trump Rally, Report Says\u00a0\">partisan political party<\/a>, candidate for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-republican-rep-jody-hice-demands-answers-from-defense-sec-lloyd-austin-over-removal-of-space-force-officer\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: Republican Rep. Jody Hice Demands Answers From Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin Over Removal Of Space Force Officer\">partisan political office<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/liberal-watchdog-group-demands-investigation-into-psaki-for-allegedly-breaking-the-law-during-press-briefing\/\" title=\"Liberal Watchdog Group Demands Investigation Into Psaki For Allegedly Breaking The Law During Press Briefing\">partisan political group<\/a>.\u201d The complaint cited, for instance, an email obtained by Protect the Public\u2019s Trust showing White House Senior Communications Assistant Brianna Stonick in January 2023 emailing White House colleagues with the subject line, \u201cTalking Points: House Republican MAGA Economic Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Moreover, Stonick sent an email in March 2023 to colleagues titled \u201cTalking Points: President Biden\u2019s Veto of Extreme MAGA Republican Bill,\u201d the <em>Daily Caller<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2024\/04\/25\/biden-sba-hatch-act-watchdog-complaint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a>. Similar communications are cited in the complaint. <\/p>\n<p>The White House and SBA did not reply to requests for comment. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Top White House and Small Business Administration officials may have breached a federal law restricting political engagements for government staff. Protect the Public\u2019s Trust obtained internal emails indicating potential violations. The watchdog group is investigating possible conflicts of interest within the White House and SBA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2231158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24016607422436-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2231157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24016607422436-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2231157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2231157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2231158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2231157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2231157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2231157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}