The Hatch Act, a 1939 federal law prohibiting government employees from engaging in political activities or promoting a political campaign, came into vogue as a Democratic tool when President Donald Trump was in office and while you may hear plenty in the media about people being charged with violating the law you’d be hard pressed to cite any convictions.
Known for having their cake and eating it too, Democrats are also quick to hide behind the Hatch Act, which exempts the president and vice president. Look no further than White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who is apt to say, “As you know, I’m covered by the Hatch Act.”
Biden’s affirmative action spokesperson has uttered the phrase 33 times since September, according to Fox News.
Politico noted in an article that KJP hides behind the law to avoid tough questions asked about how the president feels about issues involving various Democratic politicians, reporting that members of the media “are privately grumbling that Jean-Pierre is applying an overly broad definition of Hatch Act restrictions to the topics they’re asking,” further claiming that she is using the law as “an escape hatch.”
More from Politico:
On Tuesday, Jean-Pierre cited the Hatch Act when she declined to answer questions from AP’s ZEKE MILLER about whether Biden would return campaign donations from disgraced FTX founder SAM BANKMAN-FRIED. When Miller rephrased the question to ask about Biden’s personal opinion on the issue, Jean-Pierre responded: “I am covered by the Hatch Act, which I’m happy to say over and over again, because we believe in the rule of law here.”
Earlier this month, Twitter CEO ELON MUSK revealed internal company deliberations in the lead up to the 2020 election about how to handle an article related to HUNTER BIDEN’s leaked laptop files. When asked, Jean-Pierre said the Hatch Act prevented her from answering whether then-candidate Biden’s team had been in contact with Twitter about its decision to block users from sharing the news story.
The article points out that at the same time, Jean-Pierre waxes on about how well Democrats did in the midterms and often uses politically-charged terms like “mega MAGA Republicans,” “ultra-MAGA,” and “extreme MAGA.”
“I think reporters get the feeling that it’s a way to avoid having to answer some delicate questions,” one White House journalist told Politico. “You can almost feel the entire briefing room rolling their eyes when they hear the Hatch Act drop.”
“It’s pretty obvious it’s become her latest verbal crutch when she’s trying to avoid a question that’s even remotely campaign-related,” another White House reporter said. “She’s extremely cautious about stuff but this has become a tactic to avoid even the simplest questions.”
Naturally, the Biden White House blames Trump — the U.S. Office of Special Counsel announced in Nov. 2021 that it discovered “violations by 13 senior Trump administration officials, including two violations in connection with the 2020 RNC.” Conveniently, the federal agency doesn’t have to prove the allegations because discipline “is no longer possible once subjects leave government service.”
“This White House believes in the Rule of Law and we’ll continue to provide information to members of the media while working within the bounds of federal statutes,” said White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson. “If reporters have an issue with the Hatch Act, they have every right to petition their members of Congress to push for changes to the law.”
This being the same White House that has blown open our southern border with Mexico, making a mockery of U.S. immigration laws as more than 5 million illegal immigrants have entered in less than two years.
Jean-Pierre’s predecessor, Jen Psaki, had a complaint filed against her by the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which claimed during a press briefing that she said “we’re going to do everything we can to help former Governor McAuliffe, and we believe in the agenda he’s representing.” The group said she violated the law last year by improperly endorsing McAuliffe for governor of Virginia.
“Questions related to campaign issues are not necessarily ‘off the table,’ but an employee must take into account all the circumstances of the situation at hand to determine whether answering a question would constitute political activity,” Delaney Marsco, senior legal counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, told Fox News.
“To me, it makes sense that Karine Jean-Pierre is being careful when she weighs in on things that could be construed as political activity,” Marsco added.
Republished with permission from American Wire News Service
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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