WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain violated the Hatch Act and was warned to not achieve this again, in keeping with a document obtained by The Post.
The Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel said in a letter dated Wednesday that Klain, a prolific Twitter user, ran afoul of the law restricting the political activities of certain officials by retweeting a message urging people to buy “Democrats Deliver” merchandise.
Ana Galindo-Marrone, chief of the Hatch Act Unit on the OSC, described the official assessment of Klain’s infraction in a letter to the America First Legal Foundation, a pro-Donald Trump group that filed a criticism against Klain.
“Although OSC has concluded that Mr. Klain violated the Hatch Act, as explained below, we’ve decided to not pursue disciplinary motion and as a substitute issued him a warning letter,” Galindo-Marrone wrote.
Hatch Act violations generally attract unwanted negative attention and White House spokespeople continuously cite the law and a desire to avoid a wrist-slap for avoiding certain questions — especially after then-press secretary Jen Psaki received a reprimand last 12 months.
Galindo-Marrone wrote to the America First Legal Foundation that “OSC confirmed that Mr. Klain retweeted a May 22, 2022 message from Strike PAC (@StrikePAC) from his official Twitter account (@WHCOS). The tweet read, ‘Operation Fly Formula delivers 70,000 kilos of infant formula for American moms and their infants. Thanks @POTUS.’ The tweet also read, ‘Get your Democrats Deliver merch today!’ and included a link to Strike PAC’s online store and a picture of the group’s ‘Democrats Deliver’ tshirt.”
Strike PAC “is a partisan political group, and in keeping with its website, it ‘supports
campaign finance reform and can help elect Democrats who support these vital policies.’ It also has a ‘nationalized strategy’ geared toward promoting the Democratic Party by ‘tell[ing] stories of how Democrats deliver on their guarantees to enhance the lives of voters,’” the OSC letter notes.
“On this vein, Strike PAC’s message thanking President Biden served to further the group’s nationalized strategy of promoting Democrats because the party that delivers on its guarantees to voters. By retweeting this message, Mr. Klain used his official Twitter account to advertise a partisan political group’s interests and, due to this fact, OSC has concluded that he violated the Hatch Act’s use of official authority prohibition.
Galindo-Marrone continued, “As well as, Strike PAC’s tweet constituted a solicitation for political contributions since it encouraged others to purchase the group’s merchandise. A political contribution is defined as any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of cash or anything of value, made for any political purpose (i.e., to advertise or oppose a partisan political group). The sale of Strike PAC’s merchandise supports the group’s objective of electing Democrats, and so the acquisition price is a political contribution for purposes of the Hatch Act. Thus, Strike PAC’s tweet solicited political contributions, and since Mr. Klain retweeted this message, he also violated the Hatch Act’s solicitation prohibition.”
Klain is considered one of the Biden administration’s top Twitter users, often using the platform to amplify the opinions of Biden allies and positive news developments.
Although he was found to have violated the Hatch Act, the OSC letter said “we understand that he promptly removed the retweet upon being notified of this criticism. Accordingly, we’ve decided to not pursue disciplinary motion and can close this matter.”
“Mr. Klain has been warned that if in the longer term he engages in activity prohibited by the Hatch Act while employed in a covered position, OSC would consider such activity to be a willful and knowing violation of the law that might lead to disciplinary motion,” she concluded.
The White House didn’t immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
WASHINGTON — White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain violated the Hatch Act and was warned to not achieve this again, in keeping with a document obtained by The Post.
The Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel said in a letter dated Wednesday that Klain, a prolific Twitter user, ran afoul of the law restricting the political activities of certain officials by retweeting a message urging people to buy “Democrats Deliver” merchandise.
Ana Galindo-Marrone, chief of the Hatch Act Unit on the OSC, described the official assessment of Klain’s infraction in a letter to the America First Legal Foundation, a pro-Donald Trump group that filed a criticism against Klain.
“Although OSC has concluded that Mr. Klain violated the Hatch Act, as explained below, we’ve decided to not pursue disciplinary motion and as a substitute issued him a warning letter,” Galindo-Marrone wrote.
Hatch Act violations generally attract unwanted negative attention and White House spokespeople continuously cite the law and a desire to avoid a wrist-slap for avoiding certain questions — especially after then-press secretary Jen Psaki received a reprimand last 12 months.
Galindo-Marrone wrote to the America First Legal Foundation that “OSC confirmed that Mr. Klain retweeted a May 22, 2022 message from Strike PAC (@StrikePAC) from his official Twitter account (@WHCOS). The tweet read, ‘Operation Fly Formula delivers 70,000 kilos of infant formula for American moms and their infants. Thanks @POTUS.’ The tweet also read, ‘Get your Democrats Deliver merch today!’ and included a link to Strike PAC’s online store and a picture of the group’s ‘Democrats Deliver’ tshirt.”
Strike PAC “is a partisan political group, and in keeping with its website, it ‘supports
campaign finance reform and can help elect Democrats who support these vital policies.’ It also has a ‘nationalized strategy’ geared toward promoting the Democratic Party by ‘tell[ing] stories of how Democrats deliver on their guarantees to enhance the lives of voters,’” the OSC letter notes.
“On this vein, Strike PAC’s message thanking President Biden served to further the group’s nationalized strategy of promoting Democrats because the party that delivers on its guarantees to voters. By retweeting this message, Mr. Klain used his official Twitter account to advertise a partisan political group’s interests and, due to this fact, OSC has concluded that he violated the Hatch Act’s use of official authority prohibition.
Galindo-Marrone continued, “As well as, Strike PAC’s tweet constituted a solicitation for political contributions since it encouraged others to purchase the group’s merchandise. A political contribution is defined as any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of cash or anything of value, made for any political purpose (i.e., to advertise or oppose a partisan political group). The sale of Strike PAC’s merchandise supports the group’s objective of electing Democrats, and so the acquisition price is a political contribution for purposes of the Hatch Act. Thus, Strike PAC’s tweet solicited political contributions, and since Mr. Klain retweeted this message, he also violated the Hatch Act’s solicitation prohibition.”
Klain is considered one of the Biden administration’s top Twitter users, often using the platform to amplify the opinions of Biden allies and positive news developments.
Although he was found to have violated the Hatch Act, the OSC letter said “we understand that he promptly removed the retweet upon being notified of this criticism. Accordingly, we’ve decided to not pursue disciplinary motion and can close this matter.”
“Mr. Klain has been warned that if in the longer term he engages in activity prohibited by the Hatch Act while employed in a covered position, OSC would consider such activity to be a willful and knowing violation of the law that might lead to disciplinary motion,” she concluded.
The White House didn’t immediately reply to The Post’s request for comment.
