The "lawlessness" in the White House means that President Donald Trump's staff could get away with open bribes if Kellyanne Conway is not held to account for her Hatch Act violations, a Republican strategist explained on CNN.
Don Lemon interviewed Rick Wilson, the author of the bestselling book "Everything Trump Touches Dies."
"In a stunning rebuke, a federal watchdog says Kellyanne Conway violated the Hatch Act multiple times and should be removed from goverment," Lemon reported.
The host played a clip of Conway dismissing the importance of abiding by the law.
"So she knew what she was doing but is flaunting the norms here and laws. That’s part of the ethos really at the White House, no?" Lemon asked.
"Well, Don, laws are for the little people," Wilson replied.
He noted, "there’s always been a sort of normative behavior that says you don’t go out as a government official and engage in direct partisan politics, it’s just one of these things that helped build a little confidence that our government was there to serve the people regardless of the political wins of the day."
"But Donald Trump both encourages lawlessness, models lawlessness and has an Attorney general who protects him from his own lawlessness. So I think you’re going to see Kellyanne will get away with this and be rewarded for this," he predicted.
"Trump looks at this as a good thing because they want this message that they’re immune from the law, no legal sanction that applies to them," he explained.
"Look, if she can avoid the Hatch Act -- which is black letter law, it's not a debatable question, not a free speech matter, it is black letter law -- if she can avoid that why couldn’t she just take an envelope full of cash from somebody?" he wondered. "Why couldn't she take a free vacation from somebody? Why couldn't she accept a bribe from somebody?"
"If the laws don’t apply, let’s just tear it all up," he said sarcastically.
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