An Additional Eight or More Administration Officials Also Accused or Under Investigation
At least six Trump Cabinet secretaries are under investigation for violating federal law or are accused of violating federal law, as are an additional eight or more administration officials.
The Cabinet secretaries include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Attorney General Bill Barr, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
In recent days White House officials have been assisting President Donald Trump's re-election efforts so intensely that at least one has been officially named a campaign advisor – in addition to being paid by the taxpayers for their day job inside the executive branch.
It's causing a great deal of outrage in some quarters.
An NCRM investigation finds more than a dozen White House officials are either under investigation or according to a government ethics watchdog or others, should be under investigation for appearing to be in violation of the federal law known as the Hatch Act.
Take White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who is now traveling with the president and appearing on Fox News as a Trump 2020 campaign "senior advisor."
CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins pointed out the startling "title" addition on Tuesday:
McEnany appears to have done it again today:
The New York Times's Maggie Haberman on Thursday described this as "further blurring the lines between government and political activity."
In one appearance earlier this week, in which she was announced as both a campaign senior adviser and the White House press secretary, Ms. McEnany talked up the president’s political rallies.
“At each of our rallies yesterday, I was with the president, we made three stops on Lancaster and all across the state,” she said in the interview. “And in each of those stops we played a video for the public. Joe Biden said roll the tape, President Trump. When did I say ban fracking? Well, we rolled it.”
McEnany is far from the only one "blurring" the lines.
Senior advisor to the president Stephen Miller, the Trump White House white nationalist who is the architect of its child separation policy, held a Trump campaign call with reporters on Wednesday. It was a disaster, with Miller spewing lies about Joe Biden, leading one reporter to describe his attacks this way: "Stephen Miller basically describing to reporters the plot of the Purge if Joe Biden wins the election."
Today, top Trump White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow will hold another Trump campaign call with reporters.
And then there's White House senior advisor and First Daughter, Ivanka Trump:
Some other Trump Cabinet Secretaries, including Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, are raising eyebrows for travel that appears to be campaign-adjacent.
So is any or all of this illegal?
Here's what CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has to say:
(CREW previously called for McEnany to be investigated for apparent Hatch Act violations. They also called for investigations into Pence chief of staff Marc Short and Trump National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien.)
There's of course also White House trade advisor Peter Navarro:
It's not just McEnany, Miller, Navarro, Ivanka, and Kudlow.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is under investigation for several "potential" Hatch Act violations.
The nation's top law enforcement officer, Attorney General Bill Barr, is accused by CREW of violating the Hatch Act:
Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt caused some to accuse him of a Hatch Act violation over this video:
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is under investigation:
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is accused of a Hatch Act violation by a sitting U.S. Congressman:
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf is also under investigation:
And then there's the Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Mark Morgan, in another apparent Hatch Act violation:
CBP's Mark Morgan just said there will be "an illegal invasion" if Biden is elected and rolls back Trump immigration policies
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff)