US Special Counsel going after Conway for violating law
The US Office of Special Counselor is launching an investigation into allegations that White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has violated federal law by commenting on the heated Senate race in the state of Alabama.
Walter Shaub, the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel last week alleging that Conway had violated the Hatch Act by speaking up against Republican Senate hopeful Roy Moore’s Democratic challenger, Doug Jones.
The decades-old Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from using their offices to campaign for or against political candidates in elections.
Ana Galindo-Marrone, the chief of the Office of Special Counsel's Hatch Act Unit, informed Shaub that a the office had opened a case file to address his complaint.
“WH defended Conway against @CampaignLegal’s Hatch Act complaint by saying her words about Jones supported POTUS’s agenda. That’s an admission of guilt! Jones’ only relevance to POTUS is his bid for Senate, and the topic was: Does POTUS have the votes in the Senate for a tax bill,” Shaub wrote in a tweet.
Conway had blasted Jones for being "weak on borders" and "weak on crime," the two attacking points President Donald Trump has repeatedly used against him as well.
"I just want everybody to know Doug Jones, nobody ever says his name and they pretend that he’s some kind of conservative Democrat in Alabama and he’s not," she said.
In an attempt to defend her Raj Shah, the White House principal deputy press secretary, said that her comments did not amount to open support for either of the candidates.
“Ms. Conway did not advocate for or against the election of a candidate, and specifically declined to encourage Alabamans to vote a certain way," Shah said.
The bitter race in Alabama has already been overshadowed by widespread allegations of sexual assault against Moore, some dating back to around 40 years ago.
So far, nine women have come out against the Republican hopeful, who has lost many endorsements from his fellow party members.
Trump, however, has questioned the sexual misconduct claims.
“Forty years is a long time. He’s run eight races, and this has never come up,” Trump told reporters earlier this month. “He says it didn’t happen… You have to listen to him, also.”
Moore has rejected growing calls to back out of the race, which if lost would narrow the Republican Senate majority to a single seat.
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