Politics

White House chief of staff Ron Klain warned after Hatch Act violation flagged by former Trump official Stephen Miller

Published

5 months ago

October 28, 2022

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106793088-1605143747844-gettyimages-462451266-NA-EBOLACZAR.jpeg

Ron Klain in his office, on January, 13, 2015 in Washington, DC.

Bill O’Leary | The Washington Post | Getty Images

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain received a warning for violating the Hatch Act after he retweeted a political group’s post from his government Twitter account.

The Hatch Act prohibits government officials from using government resources for political activities.

Klain in May retweeted a post from the Democratic group Strike PAC thanking President Joe Biden for shipping out baby formula during the spring shortage. The second half of the tweet ran afoul of the act.

It linked to the PAC store with the text, “Get your Democrats Deliver merch today!” Klain removed the retweet when he learned of the complaint.

America First Legal, a group run by former Trump administration official Stephen Miller, brought the retweet to the attention of the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency. Miller himself violated the Hatch Act, and the OSC at the time recommended action be taken against him.

America First Legal on Thursday posted a letter from the OSC responding to its complaint. It noted that Klain only received a warning because he promptly removed the tweet.

A spokesperson for the OSC declined to comment on the matter, but confirmed the letter’s authenticity.

Miller was not the only member of the Trump administration to violate the Hatch Act during his time in office. Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington listed the following Trump officials as Hatch Act violators during Trump’s term: Dan Scavino, Nikki Haley, Stephanie Grisham, Raj Shah, Jessica Ditto, Madeleine Westerhout, Helen Aguirre Ferre, Alyssa Farah, Jacob Wood, Kellyanne Conway and Lynne Patton.

The OSC determined Conway had violated the Hatch Act on so many occasions that it made the unprecedented decision to recommend she be removed from federal duty.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday that Klain is “very careful” and takes the act seriously, but “got it wrong this time.”

“He fixed it as soon as it was pointed out, and takes the warning to be more careful seriously,” Jean-Pierre said. “That’s very different than the prior crew here at the White House before us previously that blatantly, openly and carelessly violated the Hatch Act repeatedly.”

Jean-Pierre herself is cautious about running afoul of the Hatch Act. She frequently reminds reporters from the White House briefing room podium that she cannot comment on political issues because of the act.

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Politics

AAP posters against PM Modi; raises slogan like “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao”

Published

8 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched a nationwide poster campaign with slogans like “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao” in 22 states, said AAP’s state convener Gopal Rai on Thursday.Gopal Rai also alleged at a press conference that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is engaged in ending the country’s democratic systems instead of fixing the education-health system and removing unemployment.

Posters in Hindi, English and all other regional languages are being put up in 22 states across the country. Rai said that from April 10, similar posters would be put up at universities across the nation to make students aware about the campaign.

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Politics

HC disqualifies JDS D C Gowrishankar Swamy legislator

Published

8 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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JDS MLA from Tumakuru Rural constituency in Karnataka D C Gowrishankar Swamy was disqualified by the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday in a case relating to alleged electoral malpractice. The Court, however, kept the disqualification in suspension for one month, allowing Swamy to file an appeal in the Supreme Court. A single-judge bench of the high court was delivering its verdict on a petition filed by defeated BJP candidate B Suresh Gowda, which alleged electoral malpractice by Swamy for distributing fake insurance bonds to voters during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election.

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Politics

BJP steps up OBC outreach to sway Nitish Kumar’s Luv-Kush base

Published

8 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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The BJP has upped its game in Bihar by stepping up its OBC outreach, especially among Kushwahas, one of the two castes of Nitish Kumar‘s Luv-Kush vote base, and has appointed PM Modi’s key aides to look after its work in the state.The BJP is going to celebrate Emperor Ashok’s birth anniversary on April 2 in Sasaram, which will be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This comes days after BJP appointed Samrat Choudhary as its Bihar unit president, who is also a Khushwaha. The community sees Ashoka as their ancestor.

Luv-Kush is the alliance between the Kurmi and Koeri castes, which together constitute approximately 15 % of the state population. Nitish Kumar a Kurmi himself, had garnered the support of this caste alliance, to take on the Muslim-Yadav alliance of his once staunch rival Lalu Prasad Yadav.

“The BJP is organising a big public programme to mark the birth anniversary of Samrat Ashoka, whom Khushwahas see as their ancestor. Now, the Luv-Kush alliance whom Kumar treated as his bonded labourers, will now go with BJP, worshippers of Lord Ram,” Choudhary told ET.He said the genesis of Luv-kush alliance was to counter Yadav’s politics of appeasement.

Meanwhile, the BJP has appointed a new co-incharge for Bihar, Sunil Ojha from Gujarat who worked closely with the prime minister and was looking after the party’s work in eastern Uttar Pradesh, a region comprising Modi’s constituency Varanasi.

With Ojha’s appointment, there will be two key BJP functionaries — he and Bhikhubhai Dalsaniya, organisational secretary for BJP’s state unit — both from Gujarat and have worked with Modi for many years since his days as Gujarat chief minister. Ojha was relocated to Varanasi from Gujarat and registered as a voter from Modi’s constituency in 2018.”I was handling the party’s work in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which borders Bihar. So, the demography and social structure in both regions is the same,” Ojha told ET. Ojha’s appointment also came days after the appointment of the new state unit chief.

Bihar has always been an uphill task for the BJP dispensation, and has constantly been posing challenges for the party.

Now, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has redrawn its strategy with new state unit chief and incharges. The coming together of the JD(U) with RJD after parting ways with the BJP, poses a serious challenge for the BJP, as these two parties make caste equations unfavourable for the BJP.

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