Kellyanne Conway should be removed from White House: Lawsuit

Washington, DC-based non-partisan legal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a lawsuit in federal court to have Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, fined and removed from her White House position for repeated violations of the Hatch Act, reports Law & Crime.

The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activities in their official role.

CREW says on its website that it does not only highlight the negative impact of money in politics, but take direct action to ensure those that abuse the political system are held accountable and to change that system for the better.

A CREW press release says that a federal judge should order the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to file a complaint against Conway with the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

The MSPB, says the release, could discipline, fine and even remove Conway from her position in the Trump administration.

CREW also says in the news release that OSC is legally required to file the complaint to formally discipline the counselor for violating the Act, yet it has not done so.

“The law explicitly states that should OSC determine disciplinary actions should be taken against an employee, it must immediately prepare and present a written complaint to MSPB,” says the release. “The lawsuit would compel OSC to comply with its duty to begin enforcement proceedings with MSPB against Conway.”

CREW, however, notes that following its complaints, OSC, after determining Conway violated the Act on several occasions, took the unprecedented step, earlier this year, of recommending that she be removed from federal service.

Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of CREW, stated, “We commend OSC for bravely concluding that Conway’s behavior is unacceptable and that she must be removed from her job. But now they must take the next step and file this long-overdue MSPB complaint.”

The watchdog group says it filed multiple complaints against Kellyanne Conway, as she blatantly used her official government Twitter account and her media appearances against and for candidates for office.

Conway is not the only Trump administration official who has been cited for violating the Hatch Act after complaints by CREW.

CREW has had 10 other administration officials reprimanded for Hatch Act violations.

Bookbinder said, “The Trump administration’s use of the executive branch of government for the political advancement of the President and his allies is a problem that cuts at the core of our democracy, and it is why he is at risk of being impeached. Conway’s blatant and repeated disregard for the law against misusing her office for electoral politics is one more piece of this crisis, and it is time for OSC to take the necessary and appropriate enforcement actions to hold her accountable.”

Image credit - Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Source) (CC BY-SA 2.0)