No consequences for Klain —even though there is an admission of wrongdoing.
A simple retweet has found President Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain in violation of the HATCH Act; a law preventing government officials from engaging in campaign-related activity. In May of this year, Klain shared information linking his Twitter followers to a left-wing PAC’s online store.
“The violation occurred earlier this year when Klain retweeted the left-wing political action committee Strike PAC on May 22, the Office of Special Counsel said in its letter to the America First Legal,” Free Beacon reports. “The tweet thanked…Biden for delivering infant formula to the United States amid a national shortage, and linked to the committee’s online store.”
Klain’s violation was caught by America First Legal and relayed to the Office of the Special Counsel. Upon review, the OSC agrees that there has been a violation.
“This letter responds to a complaint you filed with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) alleging that White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain violated the Hatch Act when he retweeted a message on his official Twitter account that solicited political contributions to a partisan political group,” the OSC wrote.
“Although OSC has concluded that Mr. Klain violated the Hatch Act, as explained below, we have decided not to pursue disciplinary action and instead issued him a warning letter.”
American First Legal Vice President and General Counsel Gene Hamilton issued a statement.
“Many Americans will recall that during the Trump Administration in 2018, Ron Klain tweeted that ‘using your WH title in a press release advocating the President’s reelection is ILLEGAL,’ suggesting he is versed in the Hatch Act,” said Hamilton about the OSC decision.
“Thanks to America First Legal’s rapid request for investigation, OSC has concluded that Ron Klain violated the Hatch Act, and has issued Klain a warning letter for illegally using his White House Twitter account to solicit donations for partisan entities,” he said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged the violation during Thursday’s press conference, saying Klain “takes the Hatch Act very seriously” —then took a shot at Trump.
“He got it wrong this time…that’s very different than the prior crew at the White House previously, that blatantly, openly and carelessly violated the Hatch Act repeatedly,” she claimed.
“We are not perfect, but our violations have been few.”
We’re not so sure that’s true, Ms. Jean-Pierre.
