In the first two days of the Republican National Convention, the Trump White House got the attention of government ethics experts who previous warned any hosting of campaign events from the White House or Rose Garden was a violation of federal ethics law. As the convention events unfolded Trump granted a presidential pardon from the White House, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared from Jerusalem where he was on state business and the First Lady delivered a campaign speech from the White House Rose Garden. And, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf performed a naturalization ceremony on television with Trump by his side. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in most political activity inside federal buildings while on duty. The president and vice president are exempt from the civil provisions of the Hatch Act, but federal employees like Mike Pompeo and others who helped stage the events are not. So what happens next? Here is my full take in Tamburino Talks Law – The Hatch Act.
