This story should be cut and dried.
An independent ethics watchdog organization makes a determination that someone high up in the executive branch of government is violating a rule that prohibits partisan politicking — and then recommends that the individual leave the government post.
The president who hired this person says, “Well, the rules are the rules. You have to leave your office. Thanks for your service, but that’s how it goes.”
Oh, but that’s not how it goes in the Donald Trump administration.
The Office of Special Counsel has determined that senior policy adviser Kellyanne Conway has violated the Hatch Act. The OSC says Trump has to let her go. The president’s response? The findings are faulty and he has no intention to follow the recommendation.
You see, it appears that Conway has been criticizing political foes of the president — namely Democrats — while using her senior West Wing office.
No can do, Ms. Conway, says the OSC, which has ruled that she is direct violation of the Hatch Act, a longstanding policy that seeks to keep partisan politics out of policymaking positions.
According to The Hill: “As a highly visible member of the administration, Ms. Conway’s violations, if left unpunished, would send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act’s restrictions,” special counsel Henry Kerner wrote to Trump. “Her actions thus erode the principal foundation of our democratic system — the rule of law.”
The rule of law? Does anyone other than yours truly believe that the president doesn’t give a rat’s rear end about the rule of law? Yeah, I believe there are quite a few million Americans who would agree with that.
Trump is demolishing the rule of law damn near daily.
The OSC has it right. Kellyanne Conway cannot continue to serve in here capacity as senior adviser. If only her boss would recalibrate what passes for his moral compass.
