President Trump said on Friday that he wouldn’t fire senior aide Kellyanne Conway after a watchdog found she violated a federal law prohibiting political speech in her official capacity.
“No, I’m not going to fire her. I think she’s a terrific person,” Trump told Fox News, adding “I got briefed on it yesterday and it looks to me like they’re trying to take away their right of free speech. And that’s just not fair.”
“She’s got to have the right of responding to questions.”
On Thursday, Special Counsel Henry Kerner (no relation to Mueller’s office) said in a letter that his office had never before found such repeated violations by former presidential aides, and recommended that Trump fire Conway, who erred by “disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media.”
Watch: Ilhan Omar, AOC Unexpectedly Show up on Football Fans’ TVs, Making Racist, Anti-White Comments Many Voters Had Never Heard
Watch: Ilhan Omar, AOC Unexpectedly Show up on Football Fans’ TVs, Making Racist, Anti-White Comments Many Voters Had Never Heard
Watch: Ilhan Omar, AOC Unexpectedly Show up on Football Fans’ TVs, Making Racist, Anti-White Comments Many Voters Had Never Heard
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Obama’s Saddam Hussein Jab at Trump’s Ornate WH Backfires as Critics Point Out He Built a ‘Wizard Prison’
Obama’s Saddam Hussein Jab at Trump’s Ornate WH Backfires as Critics Point Out He Built a ‘Wizard Prison’
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“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. Her actions thus erode the principal foundation of our democratic system — the rule of law,” reads the letter.
“If Ms. Conway were any other federal employee, her multiple violations of the law would almost certainly result in her removal from her federal position,” Kerner added. “Never has (the office) had to issue multiple reports to the President concerning Hatch Act violations by the same individual.”
“given that Ms. Conway is a repeat offender and has shown disregard for the law, (the office) recommends that she be removed from federal service,” reads a separate statement from the Office of the Special Counsel alongside the report.
As CNN notes, White House counsel Pat Cipollone pushed back against the report, writing that the special counsel’s office did not give the White House or Conway time to respond to the report, and that her social media statements and media interviews did not constitute violations of the Hatch Act.
Watch: Ilhan Omar, AOC Unexpectedly Show up on Football Fans’ TVs, Making Racist, Anti-White Comments Many Voters Had Never Heard
Watch: Ilhan Omar, AOC Unexpectedly Show up on Football Fans’ TVs, Making Racist, Anti-White Comments Many Voters Had Never Heard
Watch: Ilhan Omar, AOC Unexpectedly Show up on Football Fans’ TVs, Making Racist, Anti-White Comments Many Voters Had Never Heard
Alaska Dem Senate candidate suffers minor injuries in car crash, forcing her to skip campaign events
Obama’s Saddam Hussein Jab at Trump’s Ornate WH Backfires as Critics Point Out He Built a ‘Wizard Prison’
Obama’s Saddam Hussein Jab at Trump’s Ornate WH Backfires as Critics Point Out He Built a ‘Wizard Prison’
Obama’s Saddam Hussein Jab at Trump’s Ornate WH Backfires as Critics Point Out He Built a ‘Wizard Prison’
Dem Senate hopeful rejects Schumer but benefits from millions in spending by his allies
What are the most expensive midterm races?
Trump’s fingerprints seen on Latin America’s rightward shift as Brazil becomes next test
Nicki Minaj pledges to support Donald Trump again during Michigan Republican campaign rally
El Sayed mocks Rogers’s ‘earpiece’ and Trump’s ‘a**’ remarks in Grand Rapids rally
Sanders calls Michigan Senate race a test of Trump, accuses president of using racism to divide voters
Bruce Blakeman calls Kathy Hochul Zohran Mamdani’s ‘puppet’ during New York campaign rally
College homecoming party turns to chaos as deck collapses, leaving at least 28 people injured
Not happy with Powell…
Meanwhile, Trump told ABC News‘ George Stephanopoulos that the market would be stronger “we had a different person in the Federal Reserve who wouldn’t have raised interest rates so much.” Trump says he’s running out of patience.
“He’s my pick,” Trump acknowledged. “And I disagree with him entirely.”
Stephanopoulos then asks Trump whether his repeated criticisms of the Federal Reserve puts Powell “in a box,” to which Trump said: “Yes, I do,” adding “But I’m gonna do it anyway because I’ve waited long enough.”
Watch:
EXCLUSIVE: Pres. Trump defends repeated criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: “I’ve waited long enough.”
"He's my pick—and I disagree with him entirely," he tells @GStephanopoulos. https://t.co/kJRd0VxUG9 pic.twitter.com/VdN4XXwDHp
— ABC News (@ABC) June 14, 2019
Story cited here.
