GOP convention speaker list leaks — and one name is drawing attention

The list of speakers for the upcoming RNC Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas leaked on Saturday, and one name in particular drew attention among critics.

Axios obtained and reported on a preliminary list of speakers for the event, which has been described as a “first-of-its-kind” “Trump-a-palooza.” Among those scheduled to speak was Attorney General Todd Blanche, which immediately caught the attention of former Obama campaign aide Christopher Hale.

“The United States Attorney General is speaking at a national partisan political convention,” Hale wrote Saturday night in a social media post on X.

As has been flagged by law experts in the past, U.S. federal executive branch employees are prohibited by law from using their job to influence elections. Given that the U.S. attorney general is “on the clock 24/7,” as noted by former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, Blanche participating in a partisan convention, critics say, is a potential violation of the 1939 Hatch Act.

Blanche faced similar scrutiny last month after stumping for an ally to President Donald Trump during a campaign rally, a move that countless critics slammed as potentially unlawful.

Others, like former Bloomberg Opinion columnist Conor Sen, flagged a notable absence from the list: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD).

Axios’ Alex Isenstadt offered a potential explanation for the Republican Senate leaders’ potential absence.

“One name that is notably absent from the list is Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who Trump has attacked for not doing more to pass election security legislation,” Isenstadt wrote in Axios’ Saturday report. “But Thune is scheduled to be in Dallas next week for fundraising, and organizers say they are still adding names to the list.”